 "Narendra Modi’s birthday: How the PM started the tradition of auctioning his mementos, gifts")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a busy day today (September 17). He is marking his 74th birthday by launching welfare schemes and infrastructure projects.
On the occasion of his birthday, the sixth edition of the e-auction of the various mementos received by the PM has begun. This practice of auctioning the gifts received by the prime minister started in 2019.
Here’s how the tradition has continued over the years.
PM’s mementos go under the hammer
An array of mementos including sports memorabilia and a replica of Ayodhya’s Ram Temple are being auctioned online.
These items are being exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Delhi. According to Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, a government committee sets the base prices for the auction of the products, with prices ranging from Rs 600 to Rs 8.26 lakh.
Over 600 gifts are up for grabs as the e-auction continues till October 2.
The mementoes priced highest are the shoes of Paralympic bronze medalists Ajeet Singh and Simran Sharma and silver medalist Nishad Kumar, as well as a signed cap of silver medalist Sharad Kumar, reported PTI.
The other items include traditional arts and crafts, indigenous handicrafts, angavastrams, shawls, paintings like Pichwai paintings and headgear. Gond art and Madhubani art pieces are also put up for auction.
Ministry of Culture is organizing an e-Auction featuring an exquisite array of gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, slated to run from 17th September to 2nd October 2024.
— PIB India (@PIB_India) September 17, 2024
Read here: https://t.co/HDHQkOZaXt pic.twitter.com/MvpfgDpekv
Several religious items like temple models, including Ayodhya’s Ram Temple and Dwarkadheesh Temple in Dwarka, and statues of Hindu deities are also being auctioned online.
Badminton rackets of Paralympic bronze medalist Nithya Sre Sivan and shuttler Sukant Kadam, a discus of the silver medalist Yogesh Khatuniya, a peacock statue and a silver veena are among the other high-end mementos.
The base price of all items combined is around Rs 1.5 crore, the culture minister said on Monday (September 16).
Like earlier, the proceeds would be donated to the government’s flagship ‘Namami Gange’ programme dedicated to conserving and rejuvenating the river Ganga.
“Our prime minister has started a new culture of auctioning all mementos and gifts he gets. He used to do this as a chief minister as well,” Shekhawat said at a press conference, as per PTI. “The gifts he receives are given back to the people through an auction, and the money earned through that is used for a noble cause – cleaning river Ganga.”
The auction throughout the years
In 2019, the government organised the first auction of the gifts received by PM Modi. A dedicated site – PM Mementos – was set up which gives information about the items going under the hammer. The physical auction was held for two days on January 27-28, while the online one lasted from January 29-31.
The items that were sold at the auction included statues of Gautam Buddha and Swami Vivekananda, portraits, photographs and paintings of the Prime Minister, a silver-coated Shivlinga, angavastram, shawls, commemorative coins, traditional musical instruments, hats, pagris, and so on.
The badminton racquets of Krishna Nagar and Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, who won the gold and silver medals, respectively, at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games drew the highest bids in 2021. The javelin used by Neeraj Chopra that got him a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics received the highest bid in the e-auction. The autographed neon-yellow javelin was eventually sold for Rs 1.5 crore.
The sword or fence used by CA Bhavani Devi at the 2020 Olympics was sold for Rs 1.25 crore.
In an RTI reply to The Hindu, the NGMA said the first three auctions had raised funds of Rs 22.5 crore through the sale of 4,682 mementos.
In 2022, the Culture Ministry organised the fourth edition of the e-auction of gifts and souvenirs received by PM Modi. About 1,200 mementos including paintings, sculptures, handicrafts and headgear went under the hammer.
The models of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi were also auctioned. The highest bid item was the badminton racket autographed by Thomas Cup Championship 2022 Gold medallist K Srikanth. It was sold for Rs 51 lakh.
The then Union Minister of Culture G Kishan Reddy had told the media that 1,805 items were auctioned in the first round in 2019 and 2,772 in the second round. In 2021, 1,348 items were put up for auction.
The fifth e-auction was held last year when more than 900 gifts and mementos given to PM Modi were sold online. The items on auction included replicas of the Sun Temple in Gujarat’s Modhera and the Vijay Stambh of Chittorgarh, and a painting of Banaras Ghat by renowned artist Paresh Maity.
A curated exhibition of mementos was organised at NGMA. Sharing pictures from the exhibition at the time, PM Modi had tweeted that these items are a “testament to the rich culture, tradition and artistic heritage of India”. “Like always, these items will be auctioned and the proceeds will support the Namami Gange initiative,” he added.
Starting today, an exhibition at the @ngma_delhi will display a wide range of gifts and mementoes given to me over the recent past.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2023
Presented to me during various programmes and events across India, they are a testament to the rich culture, tradition and artistic heritage of… pic.twitter.com/61Vp8BBUS6
A statement by the culture ministry in 2023 revealed that more than 7,000 mementos have so far been auctioned.
With inputs from agencies
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