The government has renamed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society. 

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society

• India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru lived in the Teen Murti Bhavan for more than 16 years until his death on May 27, 1964. Soon after his demise, the house was converted into a memorial to perpetuate his legacy. 

• The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society, an autonomous body, was set up on April 1, 1966, to run the memorial housing a museum and a rich library.

• Nehru Memorial Museum and Library was established as a Society, registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860.

The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library consists of:

• A personalia museum on the life and times of Jawaharlal Nehru.

• A library which has a pre-eminent position among the social science libraries in the country

• Oral history division

• Manuscripts division

• Research and publications division

• Reprography division

• Centre for Contemporary Studies

• Planetarium

• Nehru Learning Centre for Children and Youth.

Why NMML has been renamed?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mooted the idea of setting up of a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers of India on Teen Murti Premises, New Delhi in 2016.

• The project was completed and the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ was opened to the public in April 2022.

• The move to rename the Society comes nearly a year after the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ was inaugurated on the premises of the Teen Murti Bhavan, which served as the official residence of India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

• The Executive Council felt that the name of the institution should reflect the present activities which now also include a Sangrahalaya depicting the collective journey of democracy in independent India and highlighting the contribution of each prime minister in nation-building. 

• In a special meeting, presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who is the vice president of the Society, it was decided to change its name.

Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya

• ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ (Prime Ministers’ Museum) is a tribute to every PM in the country since Independence. 

• The museum tells the story of India after Independence through the lives and contributions of its PMs. 

• The museum is to honour the contribution of all the PMs of India towards nation building, irrespective of their ideology or tenure in office. 

• It is aimed at sensitising and inspiring the younger generation about the leadership, vision and achievements of all our PMs.

• Representing a seamless blend of the old and the new, the Sangrahalaya integrates the erstwhile Teen Murti Bhawan designated as Block I, with the newly constructed building designated as Block II.

• The total area of the two blocks is over 15,600 square metres.

• There are a total of 43 galleries in Sangrahalaya. Starting from displays on freedom struggle and the framing of the Constitution, the Sangrahalaya goes on to tell the story of how our PMs navigated the nation through various challenges and ensured the all-round progress of the country.

• The design of the museum building is inspired by the story of rising India, shaped and moulded by the hands of its leaders. The logo of the Sangrahalaya represents the hands of the people of India holding the Ashokha Chakra symbolising the nation and democracy.

• It has employed cutting-edge technology-based interfaces to encompass heterogeneity in content and frequent rotation of display. Holograms, virtual reality, augmented reality, multimedia, interactive kiosks, computerised kinetic sculptures, smartphone apps, interactive screens, experiential installations, etc enable the exhibition content to become highly interactive and engaging.

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