The spadework for giving a makeover to memorials and parks built by Ms Mayawati and ensuring their better utilisation has begun.
UP chief secretary Javed Usmani and principal secretary to the chief minister Rakesh Garg inspected the various parks and memorials on Sunday. The two top officers spent over four officers taking rounds of the parks and memorials.
Though the officers later insisted that it was a private trip since both, till now, had not seen the memorials, sources insisted that the trip was a part of the exercise to ensure “optimum utilisation of vacant spaces” in the parks and monuments.
A senior official in the chief minister’s secretariat said a super-speciality hospital was likely to be built at the Kanshi Ram memorial that spans over 86 acres of land. The hospital is expected to cater to the needs of the population living in the southern part of the city, including the Lucknow-Kanpur highway. At present, there are a bunch of private nursing homes in the area but no proper medical facility for the people living here.
“We do not plan to make any changes in the existing structure which will be the focal point of the proposed extension. The architecture of the new construction will be made to merge seamlessly into the existing one and the name of late Kanshi Ram will also continue. Can there be a better tribute to the late leader than a hospital in his name that treats the poor back to health?” the officer said.
Sources disclosed that the government was mulling a proposal to set up a women’s and children’s hospital on the Kanshi Ram eco-garden which is built on 112 acres of land on which the Lucknow jail once stood.
“The Kanshi Ram memorial and eco-garden lie back to back and we can use the spare land here for the twin hospitals,” the officer said.
A cultural centre is being planned on the Ambedkar Gomti Vihar along the Gomti river. “There is no construction in the park except for the mandatory statues. The ambience is just perfect for an amphitheatre that will encourage musical performances in the city,” the sources added.
The government, for obvious purposes, wants to make it amply clear that no damage will be done to existing memorials and statues and the names of dalit icons will not be changed either.
The government, apparently, does not want any political and social backlash and wants to convince the dalits that they are aiming only for an upgradation of parks and memorials without disturbing their sanctity.