New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, at a meeting on Wednesday chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a proposal for a national memorial at the birthplace of social reformer Jai Prakash Narayan in Bihar.

"The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the proposal of the Ministry of Culture for setting up of a national memorial at Lala Ka Tola, Sitab Diara, district Chhapra (Saran) in Bihar – the birth place of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan," said an official release.

The memorial will house a virtual museum and an institute to undertake study and research on democracy, enhancing the role of panchayats in nation building and Gandhian thought, it added.

The National Democratic Alliance government's decision comes months before the assembly elections in Bihar, as well as a day before completion of 40 years of the Emergency, which was strongly opposed by JP, as he was affectionately called, and during which he was jailed. (IANS)