Education minister Ashok Choudhary on Saturday launched www.champaransatyagrah.org.in, the government's website on the Champaran Satyagraha that will have all details on the upcoming centenary celebrations.
The year-long commemoration marks the Champaran Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi against the British who were forcing tillers to grow indigo on a fixed portion of their land instead of food crops they needed for survival.
Choudhary launched the website at his official residence, 2 Polo Road. The site lists programmes planned for the centenary celebration, including details on the national conclave to be organised on April 10 and 11. The house of Gorakh Prasad, an advocate in Motihari whose house Gandhi stayed in the Satyagraha movement, is also available on the site.
"Through the website we have tried our best to inform people about the activities which would be carried out to celebrate the centenary year of the Champaran Satyagraha," said the minister. "We will upload all material related to the programme. The website will also have information on the participants."
The education department is the nodal department responsible for making arrangements for the centenary celebration. The two-day conclave on different topics such as the Champaran Satyagraha's role in the Indian freedom movement and Mahatma Gandhi's philosophies on education, economic independence, social justice, women's empowerment and others will be held at Gyan Bhavan in Patna.
Accompanied by Jitendra Srivastava, the education department secretary, Choudhary said: "The national conclave will be the beginning of the year-long programmes celebrating Mahatma Gandhi, his philosophy, teachings and his powerful mantra of ahimsa. We will upload the photos and speeches of the speakers and other related material to help those who are not part of the programme."
The speakers who will come to speak at the national conclave include Justice (retd) Chandrashekhar Shankar Dharmadhikari, the Mahatma's grandchildren Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Rajmohan Gandhi and Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, his great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, and activist Medha Patkar.
To attract as many as people to the event, the education department has also taken the help of social media. It has created a Facebook page, Champaran Satyagrah Centenary 2017-18, and also a Twitter handle @Csatyagrah.
"We have taken the help of social media to make people aware about our activities. Photos and videos related to Mahatma Gandhi are regularly being uploaded from the different districts. It will become a platform for the people to know about the teachings of Gandhi," minister Choudhary said.
