PM-led panel to make Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary a global event

After President Ram Nath Kovind’s address at the event, several committee members, including Union ministers, chief ministers and others, made suggestions on how the commemoration, which will run from October 2, 2018 to October 2, 2020, could be planned. Suggestions ranged from welfare programmes and specific measures to help farmers, to travelling exhibitions and creating infrastructure and linkages in specific locations and states associated with Mahatma Gandhi.

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The first meeting of the national committee for commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was held in Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

Kovind chaired the meeting, which had participation from opposition chief ministers such as Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal; all NDA chief ministers and some of their non-NDA counterparts such as Tamil Nadu’s E K Palaniswami, Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, and V Narayansamy (Puducherry).

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad were present, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former president Sonia Gandhi and party CMs from Mizoram, Punjab and poll-bound Karnataka did not attend.

Kovind said: “Mahatma Gandhi does not belong to India alone. He remains one of India’s greatest gifts to humankind and his name finds resonance across the continents. Mahatma Gandhi was the most influential Indian of the 20th century. He was the inspiration for our largely non-violent, inclusive and democratic freedom struggle. He remains the ethical benchmark against which we test public men and women, political ideas and government policies, and the hopes and wishes of our country and our people.”

PM Narendra Modi said it is important that this occasion be celebrated in a manner that ensures Mahatma Gandhi continues to be an inspiration for future generations (PTI Photo)

The President said, “When we work for an India free of caste and religious prejudice, we invoke Gandhiji. When we strive for Swachh Bharat and a cleaner and more hygienic India, we invoke Gandhiji. When we speak of the rights of women and children, and of civil liberties of small and disadvantaged groups, we invoke Gandhiji…”

Subhash Kashyap, political scientist and former secretary-general of Lok Sabha, who attended the meeting, said, “It was also decided that every state will have different events, and chief ministers put forward specific comments pertaining to their states. For instance, Nitish Kumar spoke about the Champaran region.”

Kashyap said he made two suggestions in writing to the Ministry of Culture, one of which was to come up with a commemorative volume, focusing on Gandhi’s relevance to present day problems. Since it would not be feasible for the entire national committee to be convened frequently, the meeting resolved to set up a smaller executive committee, headed by the Prime Minister, to take forward the commemoration.