Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has promulgated an ordinance to temporarily take possession of Veda Nilayam, the residence of former Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, in Poes Garden area in the city. This is to establish the Jayalalithaa Memorial Foundation for making long-term arrangements to convert Veda Nilayam into a memorial.

The Foundation will have the Chief Minister as the Chairperson, and Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Information and Publicity; government officials as members. The Director of Information and Public Relations will be the Foundation’s Member Secretary, says a State Government press release.

Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami announced on August 17, 2017, that the residence of Jayalalithaa would be converted into a memorial. On January 6, in his address at the Assembly, the Governor said the Jayalalithaa Memorial would be built at a cost of ₹50.80 crore.

On May 6, the Collector of Chennai had issued an advertisement to acquire the property for public purpose.

Veda Nilayam — named after Jayalalithaa’s mother Vedavalli — was the Chief Minister’s home for the final 35 years of her life before she died in 2016. Various reports say that Vedavalli bought the house in 1967 for around ₹1.30 lakh,

Veda Nilayam is classified under Ryotwari Manai Quit Rent, and the legal heir is to be ascertained.

This project does not involve displacement of any families or relocation. There are no project affected families and hence no question of relocation, resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected families, the advertisement said.

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