Published from Mumbai, Delhi & Bhopal

Modi accuses UPA government for delaying National Police Memorial

Dedicating the National Police Memorial (NPM) to the nation in recognition of the sacrifices made by police personnel since Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the UPA government of its failure in constructing the memorial.

Modi questioned: “Why did it take 70 years after Independence to get the memorial into reality, why it took so long time even after 60 years of the Hot Spring day incident which is celebrated as Police Commemoration Day?”

October 21 is observed as the Police Commemoration Day every year in memory of the policemen killed at Hot Springs in Ladakh by Chinese troops on this date in 1959.

“A thought to dedicate a Police memorial to the country’s police force came up 25-26 years ago. The memorial also got approval by the then government. Atalji’s (former Prime Minister) government took the first step in turning the thought on ground level and the then Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani laid the foundation stone of the museum in 2002,” Modi said.

“I know that the construction work got affected because of some legal problems but had the earlier government wanted or tried it by heart, the memorial would have been completed several years ago.”

Accusing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Modi said “earlier government allowed settling dust on the stone established by Advaniji”.

“When NDA government came to power in 2014, we passed the budget for it and the museum is today being dedicated to the nation,” Modi said on the occasion.

The memorial, erected on 6.12 acres of land in city’s Chanakyapuri area, is built in the memory of 34,844 police personnel who have laid their lives in the line of duty since 1947, with 424 losing their lives this year.

Modi said that Advaniji, who was also present on the occasion, was very proud on observing the inauguration of the memorial which according to him is not only the sign of peace and service but “shows the commitment of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government which is dedicated to secure the country’s dignity and honour of those linked to nation building”.

Commenting on UPA government in context of several projects, including the NPM, Modi said “the God might have chosen and liked him for doing good works”.

“This is the way of doing any work by our government which has developed the working culture to complete the targets on time.”

Recalling the inauguration of Ambedkar National Centre here in Delhi last year, Modi said the discussion over its construction was started nearly in 1992 but the file was put on hold for two decades.

“We searched the file and inauguration of the centre was done after his government came to power,” he said.

Hindi Website