A 100-volume memoir on Father of the Nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi will be republished ahead of his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.
Sources said that the decision has been taken on a proposal offered by Utkal Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (UGSN) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Centre is republishing original book containing 100 volumes of Collected Works of Gandhi and it will be available in the market very soon, said Publication Division Director Dharini Mishra in a letter to UGSN. The Centre on the suggestion by the Gandhians had decided to compile all the write-ups of Gandhiji ahead of his birth centenary. The compilation process took around 38 years. The 100 volumes of the compilation ‘Collected Works of Gandhi’ were published in English language by 1994.
The Union Government had provided special rebate to make it reach the public. The 100-volume book was also published in Hindi apart from English.
The book was re-published in 1999 following its shortage. However, several vital points were edited and deleted in the second edition of the book against which several organizations including UGSN had opposed. Even, the Government faced sharp criticism in the Parliament about the issue.
Raising concern over the unavailability of the ‘Collected Works of Gandhi’ in the market in the past 15 years, UGSN president Prahallad Singh wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi and proposed him for re-publication of the book ahead of celebrating Gandhi’s 150thbirth anniversary. Besides, he also proposed the PM for making the book available on the internet. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has made the book available on internet in PDF format.
The CD of the book is also available in the market. Already 52 volumes of the book have been published so far and the remaining 48 volumes will be published on the scheduled period, sources said. The UGSN has urged the Centre for making the book available in all the universities, colleges, well-known libraries and research centres.