'DRDO to call for contest to finalise design for APJ Kalam's memorial'

NEW DELHI: Country's top defence research agency DRDO will soon call for a national-level design competition to finalise the design concept for the memorial for former president APJ Abdul Kalam in Pei Karumbu in Tamil Nadu.

Defence sources said that the Ramanathapuram District Collector had handed over 1.36 acres of land to the Ministry of Urban Development on December 29 for the memorial.

The Ministry has given the go ahead to the DRDO to carry out fence erection around the land.

The sources said that the formal transfer of land to the DRDO will be done in due course of time.

The foundation stone for the construction of the compound around the proposed memorial complex was laid at a function at the site on December 29.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on October 15, the birth anniversary of Kalam, that a memorial would be built for the late 'Missile Man' and had requested Tamil Nadu government to allocate land for the purpose.

The commencement of the construction work came days after media reports stated that the place where the memorial of the former President was proposed to be built was lying neglected.

"DRDO will soon call for a national-level design competition," for the design concept of the memorial, the sources said.