London, 3rd August 2020: Mahatma Gandhi will be the first non-white person on British currency. The Royal Mint Advisory Committee, which recommends themes and designs for coins, has started work on a coin featuring the Indian independence leader in the UK.
Gandhi was assassinated five months after the end of British rule in August 1947.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian origin, has offered his support to a campaign to help recognize the efforts of black and minority ethnic (BAME) people in shaping modern Britain.
In a letter to Zehra Zaidi, a former Tory candidate who leads the We Too Built Britain campaign, Sunak said: ‘Black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities have made a profound contribution to the shared history of the UK.’
Gandhi will be the first BAME person to feature on British currency, although figures such as Walter Tull – the Army’s first black officer – have featured on commemorative coins, but not legal tender.
British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak wrote to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC), asking them to pursue recognition of individuals from BAME communities on the UK’s coinage, the UK Treasury said.
The RMAC is an independent committee made up of experts who recommend themes and designs for coins to Britain’s finance minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Many organisations have taken initiatives to make investments to help the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities and to support racial diversity.
Source: the telegraph