1,081 Gifts That PM Got Have Received Auction Bids: Minister Kishan Reddy

New Delhi: Over 1,000 items, which the prime minister got as gifts and are on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art, have received bids till October 1 for an e-auction, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Saturday.

Around 1,348 mementoes are being e-auctioned this year.

These include the equipment gifted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by medal winners of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympics games. The proceeds from the auction will go towards the Namami Gange project.

This is the third round of e-auctions of gifts presented to the Prime Minister and is being held from September 17 to October 7 through pmmementos.gov.in.

"Narendra Modi is the first prime minister who has decided to auction all the gifts he receives. The proceeds from the e-auction will go towards the noble cause of conserving Ganga, the lifeline of the country, through Namami Gange. The PM has often described Ganga as a symbol of India's cultural glory and faith," Mr Reddy said.

"As of October 1, as many as 1,081 items have received bids and the mementoes are on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi," he said.

Mr Reddy, the Union Minister For Culture and Tourism, visited the gallery and drew on the canvas Mahatma Gandhi's spectacles that denote his simplicity with the caption ''Swachatha to commemorate his 152nd birth anniversary, according to a statement from the ministry.

The minister encouraged all those who are passionate about contributing to the noble cause of conserving the Ganga river to take part in the e-auction.

"The prime minister has often described Ganga as a symbol of the country's cultural glory and faith. From the point of the river''s origin at Gaumukh in Uttarakhand to where it merged with the sea in West Bengal, the mighty river enriches the lives of half of the country''s population," Mr Reddy added.