New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) The iconic Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be known as ‘Amrit Udyan’ which would open for the public from January 31, according to an official statement issued on Saturday.
BJP leaders hailed the decision, saying it shredded yet another symbol of colonialism while the opposition parties advised the government to focus on creating jobs and controlling inflation instead.
The government had last year renamed Delhi’s famed Rajpath as “Kartavya Path”. The renaming of the stretch and other institutions is in line with the Centre’s effort to remove any trace of the colonial mindset, the government has maintained.
While the Congress did not officially react to the name change, the Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India rubbished the move with the Left party terming it an “attempt to rewrite history”.
The resplendent gardens are open to the public once a year and people can visit from January 31 this time.
President Droupadi Murmu will grace the opening of the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan – Udyan Utsav 2023 – on Sunday, the official statement said.
On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, the President of India is pleased to give a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as “Amrit Udyan”, Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to the President, said in the statement.
Union ministers and BJP leaders hailed the decision as a move towards a “new India”.
“Welcome and thank Hon’ble President Droupadi Murmu Ji for renaming the iconic gardens at the President House as ‘Amrit Udyan.’ “This new name not only shreds yet another symbol of a colonial relic but also reflects India’s aspirations for the Amrit Kaal,” Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Twitter.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, in a tweet, said, “Our Hon’ble President of India, Droupadi Murmu Ji sets an example by renaming the iconic gardens at the President House as ‘Amrit Udyan.'” “A powerful symbol of our nation’s progress and a reflection of a brighter future for New India,” he said.
However, the opposition said the government should focus on job creation and controlling inflation instead.
“Who knows, they might now want to rename the Eden Gardens and call it Modi Gardens! They should focus on creating jobs, controlling inflation and protecting the precious resources of LIC and SBI,” TMC’s Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien told PTI.
CPI general secretary D Raja said this name change has been going on for quite some time and no one knows when it will end.
“The RSS’ agenda is to rewrite Indian history and redefine nationhood. When we celebrate our Republic, it is for the people to stand up and safeguard our secular, democratic Indian Republic. India is not a theocracy, India is a democracy,” he said.
Supporting the move, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted, “Another historic decision of the Modi government in ‘Amrit Kaal’ to come out of the mindset of slavery. Mughal Gardens in Rashtrapati Bhavan will be named Amrit Udyan now.” Another BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, “When a historic decision on naming Mughal Gardens as Amrit Udyan has been taken in a series of steps to rid Bharat of symbols of ‘gulami’, colonial past — true to its DNA, some leaders oppose it displaying they are prisoners of ‘Mughlai/votebank mindset’ (sic).” According to the official statement, “Rashtrapati Bhavan is home to a rich variety of gardens. Originally, they included East Lawn, Central Lawn, Long Garden and Circular Garden.” “During the term of former Presidents Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and Ram Nath Kovind, more gardens were developed, namely, Herbal-I, Herbal-II, Tactile Garden, Bonsai Garden and Arogya Vanam,” it said.
In this year’s Udyan Utsav, among several other attractions, visitors will be able to see specially cultivated tulips of 12 unique varieties which are expected to bloom in phases, the statement said.
This time, the gardens will be open for the general public from January 31 to March 26 — except on Mondays which are maintenance days and on March 8 on account of Holi.
From March 28 to 31, the gardens will be open for special categories — for farmers on March 28, for differently abled on March 29, for personnel of defence forces, paramilitary forces and police on March 30, and for women, including tribal women’s self-help groups, on March 31.
People can book their slots well in advance through online booking. Booking can be made at https://rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in or https://rb.nic.in/rbvisit/visit_plan.aspx.
Walk-in visitors can also get entry into the gardens, it said.
However, they will have to register themselves at the facilitation counters as well as at the self-service kiosk near gate no 12 of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Entry and exit for all visitors will be from gate no 35 of the President’s Estate, close to where North Avenue meets Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In another step towards making Rashtrapati Bhavan accessible to more and more people, the capacity of each hourly slot has been increased. Visitors will be allowed in six hourly slots between 10 and 4 pm.
The capacity for the two forenoon slots (10 am to 12 noon) will be 7,500 visitors during weekdays and 10,000 visitors in each slot on weekends.
The capacity for the four afternoon slots (12 noon to 4 pm) will be 5,000 visitors in each slot during weekdays and 7,500 visitors on weekends, it said.
Apart from the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan, people can also visit Rashtrapati Bhavan five days a week (from Wednesday to Sunday) and Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum six days a week (from Tuesday to Sunday) as well as witness the change-of-guard ceremony every Saturday, except on gazetted holidays.
More details are available at rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in.rbtour /. PTI AKV NSD NSD
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