UK MP calls idea of building Statue of Unity 'nonsense'

UK MP calls idea of building Statue of Unity 'nonsense', says Britain should not give aid to India

The UK MP Peter Bone says: "It is up to them (India) how they spend their money but if they can afford this statue, then it is clearly a country we should not need to be giving aid to."

Most countries may have hailed India's marvellous fleet of erecting the tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , Britain, which ruled India for over 200 years, thinks India's idea of building the 182-metre State of Unity was a "total nonsense". The British country donated over 1.17 billion pounds (over Rs 9,492 crore) to India as foreign aid in the course of over five years it took to build the colossal bronze statue on a bend of the Narmada River in Gujarat.

Though funds were given for various social projects, including women's rights issues, renewable energy projects, and to encourage "religious tolerance", the UK leaders think it should not have done so as India could have easily afforded money for such projects had it not invested around Rs 3,000 crore on the 2,000-tonne statue.

Its Members of Parliament are of the view that if India can afford to spend over Rs 2,989 crore on building the statue of the freedom fighter, which is twice the height of the State of Liberty in the US, Britain should not give funds to India at all.

"To take 1.1 billion pounds in aid from us and then at the same time spend 330 million pounds on a statue is a total nonsense and it is the sort of thing that drives people mad," Conservative Party MP Peter Bone said on November 2, reported Daily Mail.

He added that the UK should do away with giving aids to India. "It is up to them how they spend their money but if they can afford this statue, then it is clearly a country we should not need to be giving aid to," said the Tory Parliamentarian.

As per the report, the UK donated 300 million pounds to India in the year 2012 when the project was started. India received 268 million pounds in 2013, 278 million pounds in 2014, and 185 million in 2015.

Critiques in the British country believe that since India is the world's fastest growing economy, and is the world leader on several fronts, including business and space, it should not be given foreign aids. They maintain that India already gives more money to several poorer countries across the world than it receives as foreign donations, despite having a vast majority of the population living in poverty.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the world's tallest statue on October 31 on the statesman's 143rd birth anniversary. The Statue of Unity was constructed by construction and engineering company, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, on the islet of Sadhu Bet. At 182 metre, the mammoth replica of Sardar Patel is the world's tallest statue, leaving behind USA's Statue of Liberty (93 metre), Japan's Ushiku Daibutsu (120 metre) and even China's Spring Temple Buddha (153 metre) statues. The statue has been built to withstand winds of 180km/hour and earthquakes of up to 6.5 Richter scale.