1857 package: Research centre after Indira

8220;Indira Gandhi participated in the freedom movement very significantly, particularly in the 1940s when Mahatma Gandhi started the historic Quit India Movement,8221; the Vice-Chancellor says in his letter.

8220;Her role as a patriot has been proved in a series of measures she took to honour freedom fighters during her tenure as Prime Minister of India,8221; the V-C wrote.

The proposal for the research centre, which will be dedicated to studies related to the freedom struggle, is part of wide-ranging activities to mark 150th years of what is often referred to as India8217;s first war of independence. IGNOU has also been entrusted with the responsibility of commemorating the 1857 rebellion.

8220;Setting up a centre in the name of Indira Gandhi will add lustre to the ongoing commemoration of the historical events related to India8217;s freedom struggle,8221; the letter further states.

The letter comes barely a week after the National Implementation Committee NIC8212;set up by the Centre to co-ordinate all programmes related to the 1857 anniversary and the freedom struggle8212;decided not to fund events to mark the centenary birth celebrations of Bhagat Singh or the 65th anniversary of the Quit India Movement. Instead, it asked the state Governments of Punjab and Maharashtra to organise the programmes using their own finances.

The proposed IGNOU centre is unlikely to face any objection from any quarter owing to the current political environment, said a senior member of the NIC, which includes several Union ministers as members. It is not yet clear how much money would be needed to set up the centre and where the funding is going to come from.