Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has promulgated an ordinance to help the state government take temporary possession of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence Veda Nilayam and take control of movable items to convert the house into a memorial. He has allowed for the establishment of the 'Puratchi Thalaivi Dr J Jayalalithaa Memorial Foundation' for making long term arrangements for the conversion process.
The foundation will be headed by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Information and Publicity Minister Kadambur Raju and government officials including members and director of Information and Public relations.
According to a statement of Friday, "The foundation will take necessary steps to maintain 'Veda Nilayam' and take necessary steps for the maintenance, upkeep and safety of all movable properties therein."
The decision was made, as per the statement, because the building including movable items such as furniture, books, jewels, etc. are in a state of disuse for more than three years.
"So, the government decided to transfer all the immovable and movable properties to the Government for its upkeep until the acquisition process is complete," it states.
On May 6, Chennai Collector R Seethalakshmi issued a declaration that the acquisition of the property that served as Jayalalithaa's residence for 40 years, is needed for a 'public purpose'. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency was invoked for the same and it was declared that there was no one to compensate in this case are there no 'Project affected persons'.
It was in August 2017 that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced the conversion of Veda Nilayam into a memorial as it was a key condition for the merger with the O Panneerselvam faction.