Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday underlined the need for widening the scope of research on modern Indian history by covering individuals and institutions to create better awareness about the country's past. He was presiding over the annual general meeting of the NMML (Nehru Memorial Museum and Library) Society at his residence in New Delhi in his capacity as its president. Sources said the meeting was also attended by Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Anurag Thakur, G Kishan Reddy, Dharmendra Pradhan, and MoS V Muraleedharan. After the 90-minute meeting that was also attended by the members of the NMML Society's executive council, the Prime Minister emphasised the need for institutions in the country to record well-researched work for the benefit of the present and future generations, said a statement from the Ministry of Culture. Expressing satisfaction over the design and content of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, Modi called the museum “truly nation-centric, and not person-centric”, adding that it suffers neither from undue influence nor from unwarranted absence of any required facts, the ministry said. Modi said there was a need to make the museum popular among the youth by organising competitions about its content in colleges and universities, the statement said. The PM also called for encouraging research on personalities who have contributed to nation-building. Mentioning that since the 200th birth anniversary of Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati falls in 2024, Modi called upon the academic and cultural institutions across the country to produce content about the contributions of the social reformer as well as about the Arya Samaj, which will complete 150 years in 2025. During the meeting, NMML Society executive council chairman Nripendra Misra spoke on the current working of the Society as well as outlined the vision for the future. Next month, a gallery dedicated to Modi's term as the country’s Prime Minister will also be inaugurated at the museum.
