Page 60 - EW-June-2025

Eyewitness

Constitution gardens. The garden
surrounding the museum is seeded
with 40 plant species and shrubs from
across India and interspersed with
nine evocative sculptures of renowned
sculptors including Nishant S. Kumb-
hatil, Deval Verma and Rajesh P.S.
Also a mural by Gautam Rahul which
showcases all 15 women members of
the Constituent Assembly, whose con-
tribution towards framing the Consti-
tution has been overlooked.
Thematic galleries. The muse-
um houses several thematic galler-
ies spread over three floors. Among
them: The Constitution: A Kalei-
doscope. This gallery houses a pho-
tolithographic copy of the Constitu-
Constitution gardens snapshot tion bearing signatures of prominent
members of the Constituent Assembly.
tions about democracy, the republic, completed construction of the three- Decoding the Constitution fea-
rights and freedoms. In this mu- storied museum with its several
seum, the history of our rights and thematic galleries, 11 interac- Constituent Assembly women members mural
freedoms comes alive, celebrating tive installations, nine outdoor
the unifying force of the Constitution sculptures and 19 artworks by
of India, and its legacy of upholding contemporary artists, 45 digital
justice, liberty, equality and frater- displays and 115 minutes of
nity of the people of India,” says Raj audio-visual footage including
Kumar in a ringing tribute to free Constituent Assembly debates,
India’s governance charter. within 171 days.
After persuading steel tycoon Among the notable features of
Naveen Jindal to endow the uni- the JGU Constitution Museum &
versity with an initial Rs.500 crore the Rights and Freedoms Acad-
in 2008, Raj Kumar supervised the emy are:
design, construction and operation- The Makers Gallery: metallic busts display of Constituent Assembly members
alisation of JGU in a record 310 days.
He has applied the same “irresistible
force” to complete the Constitution
Museum, established with a capex of
Rs.30 crore in 171 days.
To design the museum, a
32-member committee of constitu-
tional experts including Justice U.U.
Lalit, Dr. Abhishek Singhvi and Prof.
Upendra Baxi were consulted, and a
committee of 104 museum advisory
members was constituted. Anjchita
B. Nair, Professor of Practice at the
Centre for Culture, Heritage and Mu-
seum Studies at JGU, and co-founder
of Cultre, a Delhi-based heritage,
culture and museums consultancy
firm, was appointed curator of the
museum.
Working round the clock, they

60 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2025