‘Over 600 gifts, mementos received by PM Modi to go up for auction’

New Delhi, Sep 16: Mementos ranging from sports shoe and other items of paralympic medalists to replica of Ram temple and even a silver veena -- all gifts received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- are set to be auctioned soon, and the base price of all the items together comes to around Rs 1.5 crore, Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Monday.

Shekhawat conducted a walk-through of the exhibition showcasing the prime minister’s mementos at the National Gallery of Modern Art here. Addressing a press conference later, he mentioned that the base prices for the auction of these gifts are set by a government committee, with prices ranging from as low as Rs 600 to as high as Rs 8.26 lakh.

“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 here.

“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 minister said.

He pointed out that this is the sixth time such an auction is being held, and the funds raised through it will be donated to the National Ganga Fund.

This time, about 600 items gifted to Prime Minister Modi over the last one year will go up for auction.

The highest priced mementos are encased sports 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 -- all priced around Rs. 2.86 lakh.

Badminton racket of Paralympics bronze medalist Nithya Sre Sivan and shuttler Sukant Kadam and discus of the silver medalist Yogesh Khatuniya have been priced at Rs 5.50 lakh.

A model of Ram Temple priced at Rs 5.50 lakh, a peacock statue valued at Rs 3.30 lakh, a statue of Ram Darbar priced at Rs 2.76 lakh and silver veena priced at Rs 1.65 lakh are among the other high-end mementos.

The lowest priced mementos includes cotton angavastrams, caps and shawls, priced at Rs 600 each.

The auction will start on September 17, Prime Minister Modi’s birthday, and will end on October 2.