Prime Ministers Museum and Library

• The Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) has taken a major step forward in expanding access to its vast archival resources. 

• The PMML is located at the historic Teen Murti Bhavan in central Delhi.

• PMML is a premier national institution dedicated to preserving and showcasing the legacy of all Prime Ministers of India since Independence.

• PMML houses one of the world’s largest collections of rare archival materials, comprising over 25 million documents belonging to more than 1,300 individuals and organisations. 

• These records are regularly consulted by bonafide researchers and scholars studying Modern and Contemporary Indian History.

• In a landmark initiative, PMML is undertaking a comprehensive digitisation project of its rare archival collection, which includes personal papers, correspondence, speeches, diaries, and newspaper articles. 

• This transformative effort ensures long-term preservation of fragile documents while enabling restricted remote access for genuine research scholars. 

• A substantial portion of the frequently accessed material has already been digitised, uploaded, and made available through the newly developed system.

• A dedicated IT Platform has been created to facilitate remote access to these digital archives. 

• The launch of PMML’s Digital Archives marks a significant milestone in leveraging technology to safeguard invaluable historical resources and enhance accessibility for researchers, scholars, and knowledge seekers across the world.

Prime Ministers Museum and Library

• The Prime Ministers Museum and Library is housed in the historic Teen Murti campus located south of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

• Designed by Robert Tor Russel and built in 1929-30 as part of Edwin Lutyens’ imperial capital, Teen Murti House was the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief in India. 

• In August 1948, after the departure of the last British Commander-in-Chief, Teen Murti House became the official residence of independent India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who lived there for 16 years until his death on May 27, 1964. 

• Soon thereafter, the government decided that the Teen Murti House should be dedicated to him and house a museum and a library. 

• On Jawaharlal Nehru’s 75th birth anniversary on November 14, 1964 President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan formally dedicated the Teen Murti House to the nation and inaugurated the Nehru Memorial Museum.

• 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.

• Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, a museum showcasing the life and legacy of all Prime Ministers of the country was inaugurated on April 14, 2022 at the Teen Murti Bhavan complex.

• In June 2023, the government renamed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society as Prime Ministers Museum and Library Society.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)