Bengaluru: At a time when the country is gearing up to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma, the Karnataka government has put an ambitious multimedia project on him on the back burner.

Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi (KGSN) had submitted a ₹10.5-crore proposal for setting up Mahatma Gandhi Multimedia Project (MGMP) through the Department of Kannada and Culture in 2017. “The plan was to set up a multimedia museum on an area of 11,000 sq. ft. Of the ₹10.5 crore, ₹4.5 crore was earmarked for civil works and the rest for digitalisation,” said Wooday P. Krishna, president of the KGSN.

The former Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) H.K. Patil was keen on the project, but with the Assembly elections and change of the government, there has been no progress on the project. “Till date, there is no response from the government on the proposal,” Mr. Krishna regretted.

The KGSN’s plan was to open the museum for the public on October 2, 2019, but achieving this target seems unlikely now. According to V.N. Thippanna Gowda, vice-president of Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru, the project is the first of its kind in south India and is aimed at bringing the youth closer to Gandhiji’s ideals through technology, pictures, cartoons, animation, and digitised text. It was the dream of Ho. Srinivasaiah, Gandhian and freedom fighter, who served as president of the KGSN for long.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu that the project was also multi-lingual and planned such that it could be accessible to all. “The idea is to introduce Gandhiji to visitors in two parts. While the first half delineates the life of Gandhiji, the second half dwells on his contribution to the country and the relevance of his teachings. Thousands of pictures have been collected,” he said.

“It is not too late even now. With the government making the necessary allocation, the project can take off, and it could be in place by October 2019 if we work overtime with focus,” said Mr. Gowda.