Shakthi Sinha, the Director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, has said that the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF), which is led by Sonia Gandhi, was unauthorised and lacked proper documentation, The New Indian Express has reported. The JNMF was set up in the year 1964 under the Chairmanship of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, the then President of India.

A notice served to the JNMF by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 11 September had ordered them to leave on 24 September. The secretary of JNMF, J N Dubey had contested the claims of the ministry.

“The fund was involved in setting up the museum and passing on invaluable materials to the museum - files, photographs and selected works. Suddenly they say we are unauthorised. We are taking necessary steps to safeguard our position. It has been a symbiotic relationship between the museum and the fund”, Vice-Chairperson of JNMF Karan Singh said while responding to the ministry’s order.

The JNMF is involved in giving scholarships and fellowships in addition to arranging a memorial lecture on the eve of Nehru’s birthday.

“Currently, the library is overcrowded. We plan to construct a three-storeyed building on that spot where the administration offices and non-library activities will be shifted. The existing building will be used for library expansion and academic purposes,” Shakti Sinha told The New Indian Express.