The Centre has approved the setting up of Bhagat Singh Chair at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The Bhagat Singh Chair will focus on the revolutionary movements in the country since 1757, Professor Chaman Lal from the Centre of Indian Languages, JNU said in New Delhi on Friday.

"The government has sanctioned the proposal for setting up of the Chair. We are waiting for the government to provide funds before the celebrations of Bhagat Singh's birth centenary begin on September 28," he said.

Lal, who has conducted extensive research on the life and work of Bhagat Singh, said the Chair will be first of its kind in the country.

Outlining Bhagat Singh's freedom struggle, he said over two lakh people had filed petitions before the then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten to appeal against his execution. Besides, lakhs of people had carried out protests across the country against the execution.

Lal has also written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], requesting him to take steps to build a Bhagat Singh memorial in Lahore [Images]. "Bhagat Singh is loved by the people of India and Pakistan. So, both countries should come forward to celebrate the centenary," he said.

The professor displayed the original copy of Bhagat Singh's jail notebook, which contains several letters written by the revolutionary, including one he wrote to his father.