Demand for national war memorial has to become reality: Antony

Defence Minister A K Antony today said the armed forces' demand to have a national war memorial has to "become a reality" and hoped to "find out a solution" on the issue.  

"Our government is very particular that long pending demand and aspiration of the armed forces for war memorial has to become a reality... I hope, that by cooperation of all concerned, we will be able to find out a solution at last," he told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Armed Forces Tribunal.

Antony said the construction of the war memorial was Government's priority.  

 

"The very fact that Prime Minister has appointed a Group of Ministers (GoM) shows the priority we are giving to the war memorial," Antony said.  

On Monday, the Prime Minister had constituted a Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony and Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy to look into the issue of finding a location for constructing a National War Memorial in Delhi.The GoM will decide on the appropriate location of the National War Memorial after considering all aspects of the relevant proposal.  The proposal for a War Memorial, given an in principle approval during the Vajpayee regime, has been in the pipeline for some years but the issue of finding a location has put a hold on its implementation.

While Defence Ministry has suggested that the Memorial should come in the open space behind the India Gate hexagon, Urban Development Ministry and Delhi Urban Arts Commission are opposed to the view on the grounds that it will not gel with the layout of the area done up during the British era.