Rashtrapati Bhavan's Mughal Gardens renamed 'Amrit Udyan', to open for public from January 31
New Delhi, Jan 28: The iconic Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be known as 'Amrit Udyan', which would open for public from January 31, an official statement issued on Saturday said.
President Droupadi Murmu will grace the opening of the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan -- Udyan Utsav 2023 -- on Sunday, it said.
On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the President of India is pleased to give a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as Amrit Udyan', Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to the President, said in the statement.
The government had last year renamed Delhi's famed Rajpath as "Kartavya Path". The renaming of the stretch and other institutions is in line with the Centre's effort to remove any trace of colonial mindset.
"Rashtrapati Bhavan is home to a rich variety of gardens. Originally, they included East Lawn, Central Lawn, Long Garden and Circular Garden. During the term of former Presidents Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and Shri Ram Nath Kovind, more gardens were developed, namely, Herbal-I, Herbal-II, Tactile Garden, Bonsai Garden and Arogya Vanam," it said.
In this year's Udyan Utsav, among several other attractions, visitors will be able to see specially cultivated tulips of 12 unique varieties which are expected to bloom in phases, the statement said.
This time the gardens (Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden, Central Lawn, Long Garden and Circular Garden) will be open for about two months.
The gardens will open for general public on January 31, 2023 and will remain open till March 26, 2023 (except on Mondays which are maintenance days and on March 8 on account of Holi).
From March 28 to 31, the gardens will be open for special categories -- for farmers on March 28, for differently abled on March 29, for personnel of defence forces, paramilitary forces and police on March 30, and for women, including tribal women's self help groups, on March 31.
People can book their slots well in advance through online booking. Booking can be made on https://rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in or
https://rb.nic.in/rbvisit/visit_plan.aspx.
Walk-in visitors can also get entry into the gardens, it said.
However, they will have to register themselves at the facilitation counters as well as at the self service kiosk near gate no 12 of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It is advisable to book a slot online in advance to avoid rush and save time, the statement said.
Entry and exit for all visitors will be from gate no 35 of the President's Estate, close to where North Avenue meets Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Visitors are requested not to bring any briefcases, cameras, radios/transistors, boxes, umbrellas, eatables etc inside the gardens, it said.
"They can carry mobile phones, electronic keys, purse/handbags, water bottles and milk bottles for infants," the statement said.
Provision for drinking water, toilets and first aid/medical facilities will be made at various places along the public route.
Another step towards making Rashtrapati Bhavan accessible to more and more people is through increase in capacity of each hourly slot.
The visitors will be allowed to visit in six hourly slots between 1000 hrs and 1600 hrs.
The capacity for the two forenoon slots (1000 hrs to 1200 hrs) will be 7,500 visitors during weekdays and 10,000 visitors in each slot on weekends.
The capacity for the four afternoon slots (1200 hrs to 1600 hrs) will be 5,000 visitors in each slot during weekdays and 7,500 visitors on weekends, it said.
Apart from the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan, people can also visit Rashtrapati Bhavan five days a week (from Wednesday to Sunday) and Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum six days a week (from Tuesday to Sunday) as well as witness the change-of-guard ceremony on every Saturday, except on gazetted holidays.
More details on these are available at http://rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in/rbtour/, the statement added.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
