After India Gate,Rashtrapati Bhavan to be out of bounds for general public

Barricades have been put up at a distance of 100 metres from the gates and no vehicles or the public will be allowed beyond this point.

Conservation of Rashtrapati Bhavan on anvil

Last month,several RTI activists staged a protest at the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan over the tabling of a bill seeking an amendment to the RTI Act to protect political parties from providing information under

the Act.

Delhi Police said following the protest,the authorities at Rashtrapati Bhavan requested the force to ensure that the public was kept at a safe distance from the historical building.

The barricades are manned round the clock by police personnel and only those with valid passes are allowed beyond them. Vehicles too have to park metres away from the premises.

While the Delhi Police feels it will help maintain law and order in the area,the general public feels otherwise.

Rita Arora Samuel,a resident of Defence Colony,who had come with her cousins from the US to see Rashtrapati Bhavan,was taken by surprise when she was told that she wouldn’t allowed till the gates of the premises.

“I have lived all my life in Delhi and have visited the premises several times. We have taken so many pictures here by the gate. My cousins wanted to see the area but we have been asked to take photographs from a distance. First they block India Gate and now this,” she said.

The India Gate has been closed to the public since February this year following terror alerts.