Academics have decried the removal of Jawaharlal Nehru’s name from a public institution created in his memory at a time no chance is missed at the top to disparage, if not deny, the decisive role the first Prime Minister played in nation-building.

On Thursday, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) Society resolved to change its name to the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society at a special meeting chaired by its vice-president, defence minister Rajnath Singh. The Prime Minister is the president of the institution.

Critics of the move on Friday called it a “blow to India’s intellectual institutions”.

Former NMML director, historian Mridula Mukherjee, told The Telegraph: “When the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was started (last year), there was no mention that the institution itself would undergo transformation. This has been done to reduce the focus on Jawaharlal Nehru.”

The NMML includes the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, which is housed in two structures — the Teen Murti House and a new building that was opened last year; the Nehru Memorial Library; and the Nehru Planetarium. These are all located on the 30-acre Teen Murti compound.

Mukherjee said: “Suppose the Gandhi Smriti (the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated) is renamed to honour all martrys, it won’t make sense…. This is a memorial to Nehru. No one denies that he deserves to be remembered for his contribution to the freedom struggle, his role as India’s first Prime Minister, in the creation of the independent Indian State, and establishing parliamentary democracy. His role is second only to Mahatma Gandhi. He spent more than nine years in jail.

“If they want to democratise the NMML, then it should be removed from government control by giving it a corpus fund so that it becomes an independent public institution.”

In a media release on Friday, the Union culture ministry said: “The Executive Council (of the Society) subsequently felt that the name of the Institution should reflect the present activities which now also include a Sangrahalaya depicting the collective journey of democracy in Independent India and highlighting the contribution of each Prime Minister in nation-building…. Thus, it recognises all the Prime Ministers, thereby democratising the institutional memory.”

The ministry added: “Describing Prime Ministers as an institution and comparing the journey of various PrimeMinisters to the varied colours of a rainbow, Shri Rajnath Singh emphasised that all the colours of a rainbow have to be proportionately represented in order to make it beautiful.”

“Thus the resolution has given a new name, respect to all our previous Prime Ministers and is democratic in content,” the ministry’s release said.

In a tweet, NMML vice-chairman A. Surya Prakash clarified that the resolution to change the name of the society changes the name of the institution as well. He tweeted, “A spl GM of @_NMML_ resolved yesterday to change its name to Prime Ministers Museum & Library. @rajnathsingh ji, VP of society presided.”

Zoya Hasan, professor emerita with the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, told this newspaper: “Changing the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library is utterly unnecessary. Names of memorials as a matter of principle shouldn’t change. There is absolutely no justification for it.

“The NMML is not just a Prime Minister’s museum, it’s also a research institution and a renowned library, a repository of books, private papers, interview recordings, newspapers and primary material on modern India set up in memory of India’s first Prime Minister. A new Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya that includes all Prime Ministers of India is now already there on the Teen Murti campus. Renaming the NMML Society as PMMLSociety seems redundant, but it marks yet another blow to India’s intellectual institutions.”

Besides the academics, the Congress criticised the decision. Congress MP and general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Pettiness & Vengeance, thy name is Modi.... What won’t Mr Modi do to distort, disparage and destroy the name & legacy of the architect of the Indian nation-state? A small, small man overburdened by his insecurities is the self-styled Vishwaguru.”

But BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar tweeted: “My father, former PM Chandra Shekhar Ji, always worked for national interest. He even worked with Congress but they NEVER looked beyond one dynasty. Now, when PM @narendramodi honoured Prime Ministers across party lines, Cong is getting agitated. Horrible attitude.”