A plaque which mentions that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone of National Media Centre (NMC) was today put up again outside the building.
The plaque was put up after Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar visited the NMC today, ministry officials said.
Officials said the plaque had been put outside the building earlier but was removed when the building was under construction "to ensure that it is not damaged."
Officials said Javadekar carried out an inspection of the facility today where he noticed that the plaque which bore the names of former Prime Minister Vajpayee and other senior collegues of the previous NDA cabinet.
Javadekar then instructed officials to again place the plaque prominently. His instructions were followed promptly and by evening the plaque had been restored at the NMC entrance.
The plaque reads that the foundation stone was laid by Vajpayee on December 5, 2001 and the then Home minister L K Advani had presided over the ceremony. The then I&B Minister Sushma Swaraj, Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar and MoS in I&B Ministry Ramesh Bais had performed 'bhumi pujan'.
Principal DG (PIB) Neelam Kapoor said the foundation stone plaque was removed when the building was under construction to ensure its safety. It was safely kept and since the building has been completed, it was put up again.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had inaugurated the National Media Centre in August last year.
Asked about the development, union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said "the plaque which carried A B Vajpayee's name which your are talking about where was it in the first place?...Was that removed?... I don't know the thing which you are saying, it is raising more questions...
