The construction of a National War Memorial and a National War Museum was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday. The estimated cost of the project, which will be designed by an “international consultant”, is pegged at Rs.500 crore and it will be completed in five years.

“Post-Independence, more than 22,500 soldiers have sacrificed their lives in the defence of the country’s sovereignty. Even after 69 years of Independence, no memorial to commemorate the martyrs has been constructed,” Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping, Road and Highways, told reporters.

A long-standing demand of the Armed Forces, according to an official statement, the memorial and museum will be constructed at Princess Park near India Gate in the Capital.

The project will be monitored by an empowered Steering Committee chaired by the Defence Secretary and assisted by a dedicated project management team. A management body will be formed for maintenance of the establishments.

“The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers who laid down their lives for the mother land,” said the official statement.

“Their dedication, this government feels is a part of unfinished work in nation building. This government resolves with all its humility at its command that they did not die in vain and that Bharat Mata is enriched by their contribution,” it added.

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