By TIOL News Services

NEW DELHI, MAY 03, 2018 : THE President of India, Mr Ram Nath Kovind, chaired the first meeting of the National Committee for the Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday. The Committee has a total of 125 members, including 116 from India and encompasses the President (as chair), the Vice-President, Prime Minister, Union Ministers, former Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers, senior MPs and political leaders from across party lines, and eminent Gandhians, social thinkers and activists representing a cross-section of Indian society and regional diversity. The Committee also has nine international members. The meeting was attended by 82 members of the Committee yesterday.

The meeting began with introductory remarks by the Union Home Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, who said that the focus of the Commemoration should be to present Gandhian values and principles both to the people and through the people in a contemporary idiom. He then invited the President of India to address the meeting.

In his speech, President Kovind stressed that 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. The President said, "When we work for an India free of caste and religious prejudice, we invoke Gandhiji. When we strive towards 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. When we talk of the health and well-being of the Indian farmer and the Indian village, we invoke Gandhiji. When we strive for energy access for the last village and the last home, we invoke Gandhiji. When we build capacities in solar and renewable energy, we invoke Gandhiji. When we battle climate change and promote green, eco-friendly living, we invoke Gandhiji." The President said that it is for this reason that the 150th Birth Anniversary Commemoration has world-wide meaning.

The meeting resolved to set up a smaller Executive Committee, headed by the Prime Minister, to take forward the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhiji. Encapsulating the sense of the meeting, the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, thanked various members of the Committee for their constructive suggestions and recommendations. The Prime Minister stressed that all programmes associated with this celebration should be designed around the theme of “Karyanjali” - or “Gandhi in action”. He expressed happiness that the suggestions received were mostly action-oriented. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to use technology in the celebrations, so that the whole world can take note and participate. He called for the celebrations to move beyond government events and take the shape of a mass movement - or Jan Bhagidaari. He also urged all state governments to have similar consultations and draw plans at the state level.