Sports gear and equipment of winners of the Tokyo Paralympic Games and the Tokyo Olympic Games, including the javelins used by gold medalists Sumit Antil and Neeraj Chopra, are the key highlights of the e-auction of about 1,330 gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turned 71 on Friday.
The e-auction, being organised by the Ministry of Culture, started on Friday and will continue till October 7. The proceeds will go to the Namami Gange Mission. This is the third edition of such an auction, in which persons or organisations can participate via the website: https://pmmementos.gov.in.
“The mementos include sports gear and equipment gifted to the Prime Minister by winners of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Other interesting artefacts include replica of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Chardham, Rudraksh Convention Centre, models, sculptures, paintings and ‘angavastras’,” said the Ministry.
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The items on auction in this round include the javelins used by gold medalist Sumit Antil in the Tokyo Paralympics and gold medalist Neeraj Chopra in the Tokyo Olympics, which have the highest base price of ₹1 crore each. The lowest priced item is a small sized decorative elephant for ₹200.
Some other items under the hammer are the boxing gloves used by Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winner Lovlina Borgohain, signed by the player herself; a badminton racquet autographed by Krishna Nagar, gold medalist at the Paralympics; and a table tennis racquet autographed by Bhavina Patel, silver medalist at the Tokyo Paralympics.
“Narendra Modi is the first ever Prime Minister who has decided to auction all the gifts he receives for a noble cause of conserving the lifeline of the country — the river Ganges through ‘Namami Gange’,” said the Ministry.
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