Motilal Nehru

New Delhi, March 6: The human resource development ministry is planning a chair named after Motilal Nehru at Allahabad University as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the leader, the father of Independent India’s first Prime Minister.

The chair would conduct academic activities and research on the freedom struggle and the ministry, sources said, has asked the University Grants Commission to ask all varsities to organise lectures to discuss Motilal Nehru’s contributions to the movement.

It is understood that the law ministry is also planning to set up a law university in Allahabad named after Jawaharlal Nehru’s father, who served two terms as Congress president.

The initiatives are part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the 1861-born leader, who played a key role in the freedom movement.

Earlier, the HRD ministry had proposed setting up a central university named after Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The HRD ministry had sought in-principle approval from the Planning Commission for the proposed institution during the 12th Plan period (2012-17) but the panel had last year questioned the justification for such an institution in Rae Bareli.

The ministry said Rae Bareli was the political constituency of India’s first lady Prime Minister “who was a symbol of women’s empowerment”.

It also argued that Rae Bareli, identified by the UGC as an educationally backward district for having a gross enrolment ratio lower than the national average, would be an ideal location for the proposed university. No final decision has been taken yet.

At present, there are several institutions named after the Nehru-Gandhis — in Delhi, Puducherry, Itanagar and Shillong.