Karnataka has announced plans to build a large Gandhi memorial in Belagavi at an estimated cost of ₹100 crore, commemorating the centenary of the Congress session attended by Mahatma Gandhi in the city. D.K. Shivakumar said the proposal would be included in the state’s next Budget.
Shivakumar made the announcement at Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru during a Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti programme organised by the Department of Information and Public Relations in association with the Karnataka Gandhi Memorial Foundation. He was speaking after presenting the Gandhi Seva Award to Vudey P. Krishna.
The proposed memorial is intended to mark 100 years since the historic Congress session in Belagavi in which Gandhi participated. The announcement did not specify the site, design, construction agency, project schedule or the facilities that would form part of the memorial.
Shivakumar also said memorial pillars would be built in every district visited by Gandhi and that the work would be completed within one year. He said financial assistance would be provided for the initiative. The announcement did not state the total number of districts covered, the estimated cost of the pillars or the implementing department.
The programme also included the inauguration of a Gandhi museum. Several awards and publications were presented during the event, including the Jayalakshmi Ho Srinivasayya Endowment Awards for books by Manjunath Chand and Ramesh Bilikere. Gandhi Grama awards were given to addiction-free villages in Koppal district.
Other awards recognised National Service Scheme officials and volunteers from Mysuru, Belagavi, Tumakuru, Raichur, Mandya and Koppal. Books on Gandhi and his ideas were also released, including translated works and a volume relating to four BBC radio programmes.
The announcement places the proposed Belagavi memorial within a wider state effort to preserve sites and public memory associated with Gandhi. However, the project remains at the announcement stage. Its formal scope, land requirement, procurement process, funding release and construction timeline will become clearer when the proposal is included in the next state Budget and subsequent administrative documents.
