In yet another auction, as many as ten heritage items of Chandigarh will go under hammer at an auction to be held in the United States Friday. The total reserve price of these items is around $1,27,000 and $1,76,000, which is about Rs 1.03 crore to Rs 1.43 crore. Of the ten items, the costliest are the armchairs with reserve price up to Rs 36.64 lakh. Among the items lined up for the auction include a pair of lounge chairs designed by Pierre Jeanneret (reserve price $8000 to $10,000), file racks from administrative buildings of Chandigarh (reserve price up to $20,000 and $30,000), a set of eight committee armchairs from Chandigarh ($35000 to $40000), a set of six dining chairs from Panjab University ($20,000 to $30,000), desk and chair ($8,000 to $10,000 reserve price), a set of four tools from Panjab University ($7,000 to $9,000), a bench from Chandigarh ($7,000 to $9,000), a set of four tools ($6,000 to $8,000), a desk and office cane chair ($10,000 to $15,000) and a coffee table from Chandigarh ($8,000 to $10,000). Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Protection Cell, has written to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General seeking “protection of national heritage (Chandigarh Heritage Articles) from being auctioned all over the world" Jagga has called for the intervention from the Rajya Sabha for framing rules and regulations for the protection of heritage (specifically which is less than 75 years of age) as “the mandate of the Constitution of India is already there under Article 49” in this regard. In fact, the heritage articles are being auctioned regularly in foreign countries without any resistance from the Government of India, the statement said. “The amazing thing is that these auction houses are now also declaring the identification marks (i.e. painted on the article) like PUEC (appears to be Panjab University Evening College), ZOO (appears to be Zoology Department of P.U) PSY-LAB (appears to psychiatry department laboratory) etc. Now, on 20 January, 2023, these items will be auctioned in USA,” he stated, while urging the House for framing rules to protect the heritage of Chandigarh so that the articles cannot be taken beyond the boundaries of India and stop the ongoing auctions through diplomatic channels.
