Four years after the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) announced changing the name of the Children’s Resource Centre (museum) in R. K. Puram Sector 6 to Nirbhaya Museum to honour the December 16 gang rape victim, the civic body is planning to tie up with the National Museum to redevelop it.
South Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Seharawat on Friday said: “We will be getting artefacts from the National Museum. We are in the process of hiring a consultant who will help us decide a theme for the museum and the renovation will be in tune with it.”
The museum was in the news a few months ago, after the parents of the victim met with the SDMC officials demanding that the museum be renamed after their daughter’s real name and not on a pseudonym that was given to her by the media. However, the proposal is yet to be considered by the civic agency.
A symbol
Ms. Seharawat said that the name “Nirbhaya” defines a public movement that mobilised thousands of people across India to raise their voice for the cause of women’s safety. “More than the tragic event, it is the movement that we should remember that it evoked. The name Nirbhaya is symbolic of that,” she said.
The museum was inaugurated in 1987 and has been in shambles for years. The curators and caretakers said that apart from students of a few government schools, the attendance in the building has been low. The only “attraction” of the museum is a sculpture of a dinosaur at the entrance.
“We are thinking of getting displays that are more scientific and engaging. This will make it more relevant to visitors and will also increase footfall,” the Mayor said. She added that the redevelopment project will be proposed before the SDMC House in the upcoming session. The civic body had allocated ₹20 crore for its renovation but the project never took off.
