For those who don’t know India will soon have the tallest statue in the world. We surely have other monuments such as Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar and now, “Statue of Unity” will be added to that list.

It is speculated that our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will inaugurate the ‘Statue of Unity’ of Sardar Vallabhai Patel on 31st October 2018.

Why Such An Ambitious Project For Sardar Vallabhai Patel?

The “Statue of Unity” project was initiated five years ago by our Prime Minister who was the then Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Mr. Patel was known as the “Iron Man of India” and played a crucial part in India’s Independence struggle.

He was the most important person behind the ‘Political Integration of India.’ Vallabhai Patel’s popularity rose due to this movement after the post-independence era of India.

He is still known as the man who united India.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel was the first deputy Prime Minister of India. Till today many Hindu nationalists feel that Mr. Patel was ignored during Nehru’s political dynasty.

Vallbhai Patel, who was a Congress leader has suddenly become a strong figure for various BJP political campaigns.

Related: Kerala Govt To Pay For Sex Change Operations Of Transgenders

During Modi’s Prime Minister’s election campaigns in 2013, he said: “Every Indian regrets that Sardar Patel did not become the first prime minister.”

Congress had side-lined him but Modi has brought him back into the limelight. In October 2013, Narendra Modi set down the foundation for the “Statue of Unity” and it is nearly completed this year.

The anticipated tallest statue of the world will be inaugurated on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary, this October 31st.

Project Description And Cost

The “Statue of Unity” is 182 meters long and it is said to depict our nation’s unity and integrity which might be helpful for the next election year.

The cost of the statue is 29.9 billion rupees and is located at Sadhu Bet, Kevadiya Colony in Narmada district, 200 kilometers away from Ahmedabad city.

The statue will be encompassed by a 12 square km lake and occupy more than 20,000 square meters of land. It will be twice in height than the Statue of Liberty and is a bronze-clad statue.

It will be one of the most significant tourist attraction in India’s western state.

Do We Really Need Such Grandiose Projects For India?

Many objections were raised when the project was mentioned and the budget was allocated for the statue.

Although officials said the project is PPP model (Public-Private Partnerships), a whooping 29.9 billion rupees still cannot be justified.

The value of Rupee has been in constant fall for the past few months. Also, there is a steady increase in taxes and petrol. For any common citizen, the statue is a huge waste of money.

Instead of building statues, our Prime Minister could have done a much better job by building schools, developed rural areas, providing free education for underprivileged kids. He could have also fixed Mumbai potholes which recur during every rainy reason.

In a country where we have crores of funds to build statues for our history leaders who aren’t even alive to see it, why not use it for a much better purpose for the budding future citizens of India!


Image Credits: Google Images

Sources: BBC News, Indian Express, Wikipedia, Times Now


You May Also Like To Read:

In Pics: Gautam Gambhir Dresses In Bindi & Dupatta In Solidarity With Transgenders: Not All Ok With It

4 COMMENTS

  1. The article takes the liberty of passing off the writer’s individual opinion as the opinion of ‘any common citizen’. Which is a flaw. For example, I do not believe the statue is a waste of money, and I am also a perfectly common citizen.

    That statue is exactly the kind of thing one would want to make when the rupee is depreciating – the one way to get your currency to grow stronger is to create money generating assets through investment. And the things that you’ve mentioned are already being done. The statue project was initiated well before Modi was the PM so he surely couldn’t be held responsible for not prioritising Mumbai’s roads over the Sardar Patel statue. Even as the PM, he shouldn’t be looking at Mumbai’s roads, the city roads are supposed to be maintained by the municipal corporation and not the central government.

  2. This question is now meaningless now that statue is already built. One man united disparate pieces of land into one nation what better way to honor that unity then honoring the man himself.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here