PM releases ₹100 coin in memory of Vijaya Raje Scindia, recalls her services

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released a commemorative coin of ₹100 in honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia through a virtual ceremony.

Vijaya Raje Scindia is popularly known as the Rajmata of Gwalior. The coin was released in celebration of her birth centenary.

“Rajmata Scindia dedicated her life to poor people. She proved that for people’s representatives not ‘Raj Satta’ but ‘Jan Seva’ is important. Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindiaji was a witness to every important phase of Indian politics from the independence movement to the decades after independence. Prior to independence, Rajmata’s experiences have expanded widely, from burning Holi of foreign clothes, to the Emergency and the Ram Temple movement,” Prime Minister said at a virtual ceremony, ANI reported.

“At the time of Ekta Yatra, Vijaya Raje Scindiaji introduced me as Narendra Modi, the youth leader of Gujarat. After so many years, today he is in front of you with many memories of her as the Prime Minister of the country,” he said.

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The Prime Minister said Vijaya Raje Scindia had turned down many posts with humility.

“There were many occasions when posts came up to her. But she turned them down with humility. Once Atalji and Advaniji had urged her to become the president of the Jana Sangh. But she accepted to serve the Jana Sangh as an activist,” he said.

PM Modi released a commemorative coin of ₹ 100 in honour of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia. The special coin minted by the Ministry of Finance is being released in celebration of her birth centenary.

Vijaya Raje Scindia is popularly known as the Rajmata of Gwalior. Family members of Scindia along with other dignitaries joined the ceremony from different locations all over the country through a virtual platform.

Born Lekha Devi, Rajmata was raised by her grandmother. Lekha Devi spent her childhood as a common civilian. At a young age, she took part in the freedom struggle while continuing her studies in Vasantha College, Benares, and then Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow.

One of her most notable achievements as Maharani was the founding of the Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV) in 1956. The SKV paved the way for an all-round Indian education of girls, stressing Indian values, religion, and culture.