Heritage – Archives & Gallery
The key asset of the Foundation is the Archives on Shri Rajiv Gandhi’s life and work. The collection includes around 31,000 photographs, 2300 audio tapes, 500 video tapes, 1475 spool tapes, the full collection of his speeches and other material.
Over the last few years, the primary focus of the Archives has been to preserve this valuable collection which included digitization of the collection to the maximum possible extent. The digitization of audio-video material was carried out with the help of Film Heritage Foundation last year. The documentation of around 20,000 loose photographs, listing of books and condolence books has been completed this year.
The other key focus after preservation of the material is to provide access of the archival material for use or reference by scholars, researchers or anyone inquisitive about the ideals and persona of the beloved leader. The advancement in technology and digitization of the material facilitated this whole process. The dedicated team of the Foundation reached a milestone in 2018-19 by uploading the digitized speeches, audio and video tapes and photographs on the internet. The five volumes of Rajiv ji’s speeches, several thousand photographs and several hundred audio and video recordings of his speeches at various public events are available on the internet in a searchable and downloadable format, for use by scholars and others interested to use these for authoritative referencing.
Another heritage activity we have initiated is a series of memorial event commemorating the great leaders of India including, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, Dr BR Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and so on. The Idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution is the conceptual heritage we uphold.
For accessing digitized archival material, please visit: https://archive.org/details/RajivGandhi
Our Flickr Account has digitized images related to Shri Rajiv Gandhi. This can be accessed at the link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rajiv_gandhi_foundation/