PM Modi urges citizens to participate in e-auction of memorabilia gifted to him

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited citizens to participate in the e-auction of gifts and mementos received by him. To mark the prime minister’s birthday on 17 September, the ministry of culture has organised an e-auction of gifts and mementos received by him. The e-auction is being held from 17 September to 7 October through the web portal https://pmmementos.gov.in. Taking to Twitter, Modi wrote:

Over time, I have received several gifts and mementos which are being auctioned. This includes the special mementos given by our Olympics heroes. Do take part in the auction. The proceeds would go to the Namami Gange initiative.https://t.co/Oeq4EYb30M pic.twitter.com/PrF44YWBrN

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 19, 2021

On the block are as many as 1,300 items, which include the javelin thrown by Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, which he had presented to the PM recently. Sources in the Ministry of Culture have said javelins used by gold medalist Sumit Antil in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and Neeraj Chopra in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are the items with the highest base price at Rs one crore each. The T-shirt worn by Avani Lakhera has a base price of Rs 15 lakh, Lovlina Borgohain’s boxing gloves have a base price of Rs 80 lakh while a stole with signatures of Tokyo Olympic players carries a base price of Rs 90 lakh. So far Borgohain’s boxing gloves and Chopra’s javelin are among the items that have received the highest bids. The gloves received a bid of Rs 1.92 crore and Chopra’s javelin has received a bid of Rs 1.5 crore. Besides sports gear and equipment of Olympians and Paralympians, the memorabilia also include a replica of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir presented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a wooden replica of the Chardham presented by Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj, a replica of the Rudraksha Convention Centre in Varanasi, and a memento of the Victory Flame presented by General Bipin Rawat celebrating 20 years of the Kargil War. The proceeds from the e-auction will go towards the Namami Gange Mission, aimed at conserving and rejuvenating the Ganga. At the last such auction held in September 2019, as many as 2,770 objects were auctioned including paintings, sculptures, shawls, jackets and traditional musical instruments. The proceeds from the auction were also donated to the Namami Gange Mission. With inputs from agencies