• His Excellency Mr. Ernest Rwamucyo, High Commissioner of the Republic of Rwanda in India visited Gandhi Smriti on January 7, 2020.
• Hon’ble Mr. Tomas Petricek Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic visited Gandhi Smriti on January 14, 2020 and offered tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Martyrs Column.
• Hon’ble Han Seung Soo, former Prime Minister of the Republic of South Korea visited Gandhi Smriti on January 16, 2020 and offered tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.

Almost 335 women from Raipur District from five Gram Panchayats took part in a day-long workshop on “Enhancing the Capacities of the Women in Panchayati Raj Systems” in Raipur Chattisgarh on January 20, 2020 organised by the Naveen Ankur Mahila Mandal in association with the GSDS. The chief guest on the occasion was Shri Sanjay Srivastava. The other guests included MS. Savita Parate, Sarpanch Dhamat Gaikwad from Mandir Hasood, Advocate Mrs. Tuli Majo Madar and CO Nagar Nigam Raipur, Ms. Usha Rai. Smt Meena Gautam of Naveen Ankur Mahila Mandal was also present on the occasion.
The discussion focused on these key factors:
1. Education for girls
2. Build capacities of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) for effective functioning and setting of women’s agenda.
3. Institutionalize mechanisms to strengthen capacity building of EWRs to better understand and perform their functions.
4. Mobilize community and strengthen processes of constituency building to enable women to articulate their voices and participate in the electoral process.
5. Mobilizing people to participate in gram sabha meetings
6. Strengthening women’s collectives and building networks
The speakers felt that experience sharing of EWRs needs to be actively encouraged, wider publicity to success stories and greater exposure for women’s groups though visits and sammelans is required. Documentation and record keeping are additional areas that require attention. Another... Read More

91-year-old Pandit Jasraj’s mellifluous rendition of Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajans reverberated in Gandhi Smriti as the nonagenarian paid tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of the Father of the Nation’s 72nd death anniversary on January 30, 2020. Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri M Venkaiah Naidu and hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi hummed Gandhiji’s favourite bhajan Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram as over 2000 people from different streams of society joined the evening prayer meet. Former Vice President, Dr. Mohd Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Minister of Culture and VC GSDS Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, former VC GSDS Smt. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, officials from the Ministry of Culture also joined the commemorative programme.
Almost 500 Children from 23 schools of Delhi, NCR, which included children from eight schools recommended by the District Administration of Madhepura, Bihar; Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan Hyderabad Telengana and Kasturba Mahila Vidyapeeth Sewapuri Varanasi offered a musical tribute to Mahatma Gandhi that was coordinated by Shri Sudhanshu Bahuguna of Swar Trishna. Young Krishna Prasanna assisted Sudhanshu ji in the flute.
Children from Bapa Ashram Residential Primary School, Harijan Sevak Sangh and Kasturba Balika Vidyalaya Ishwar Nagar along with their coordinators spun on the charkha throughout the programme, as religious leaders from different faith read hymns from the... Read More

As part of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi GSDS in association with the Austrian High Commission in India organized a lecture by well-known historian Dr. Margit Franz on January 27, 2020. This was in continuation of the programmes the Samiti initiated with different Embassies and High Commissions to propagate the relevance of the Gandhian Philosophies of Peace and Non-violence in the international realm. H.E. Mrs. Brigitte Oeppinger-Walchshofer, the High Commissioner of the Austrian Embassy to India was present on the occasion. Smt. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, former VC GSDS was the guest of honour. The Ambassador of Ireland and various delegates from Israel, the United Kingdom, Austria, and MEA (India) also took part in the programme.
The lecture, organized on the eve of ‘International Holocaust Remembrance Day’ was delivered by Dr. Margit Franz on “Gandhi’s India: A safe haven for Exiled Jews”.
The presentation by the historian was based on the age of the Second World War, when the Jews were persecuted within their nation and Gandhi’s India welcomed them with arms wide open, despite the fact that India then under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had launched the “Quit India Movement”.
Dr. Franz focused on the theory of equality in religion taught by Mahatma which attracted the exiled Jews to settle in the sub-continent. She said, “In the middle of their struggle for independence, India managed to accommodate the highly skilled refugees in... Read More

Almost 450+ children took part in the musical rehearsals organised by the Samiti as a tribute to the 72nd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi Darshan and Gandhi Smriti on January 17, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28 and 29, 2020 respectively. Children from over 20 schools of Delhi and NCR took part in the rehearsals conducted by Shri Sudhanshu Bahuguna. Later from January 22 children participating in the ten-day Value Creation Camp (January 23-February 2, 2020) from Madhepura, Bihar, Hyderabad Telengana and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh joined. Director GSDS, Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan also addressed the students during the rehearsals on January 29 in Gandhi Smriti and extended his wishes for their performance on January 30. Talking to the children he shared his belief that the children will perform to the best of their abilities under the guidance of Shri Bahuguna. Earlier a meeting with the representatives of various schools was conducted on January 15, 2020 in Gandhi Darshan in which Programme Executive Shri Rajdeep Pathak briefed the teachers about the modalities of the programme and the manner in which children has to be oriented.

In continuation of the series of programmes initiated with different Embassies and High Commissions to propagate the relevance of the Gandhian Philosophies of Peace and Non-violence in the international realm the GSDS in association with the High Commission of Rwanda in India organised a interactive session on January 7, 2020. His Excellency Mr. Ernest Rwamucyo, High Commissioner of Rwanda in India delivered the lecture on the history of Rwanda and how the country evolved itself as a peaceful state after the Rwandan genocide of 1994 on the principles of reconciliation and dialogue.
Addressing a gathering of 125+ participants including students from Raman Munjal Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Haryana and Manthan School Ghaziabad, Father Agnel School, academicians and representatives from other Embassies and High Commissions in India, Mr. Ernest began by mentioning the influence he had had since his early days from Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He said, “I grew up a Gandhian, long before I came to India. Mahatma Gandhi Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela had huge effect on me. They taught me the way of non-violence for attaining global peace”. He added, “Their ideas should be taken to the younger generation”.
In his emotional outburst of the tragic history of Rwanda that killed between
500,000–1,074,017 people during the mass murder or genocide of 1994, Mr. Ernest said that there was none to blame but ourselves. “It... Read More

Mahatma Gandhi, all through his long public life invariably insisted on use of better and higher skills for working in whichever task or field he happened to be concerned with at any time. He believed in a constant and continuous learning process including experimentation, keeping the ideal as the goal but also knowing that human beings must always keep improving and rising in their skills but can never attain absolute perfection. To discuss the Gandhian perspective to skill development, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti organized a one- day seminar on December 13, 2019 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The programme was organized in association with Vikas Bharti Bishunpur. The seminar was presided over by Padmashree Shri Ashok Bhagat who stressed on the Gandhian approach to skill development. Those who spoke on the occasion included Prof Nand Kumar Yadav, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jharkhand; Prof Kamini Kumar, Pro Vice Chancellor, Ranchi University and Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan, Director, GSDS.
Later during the sessions, Dr Manju Aggarwal conducted an extensive session on naturopathy and healthy living for the about 100 participants who took part in the programme.

The Samiti in association with the National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi organized a one-day seminar on Gandhian Principles and the Judiciary on December 10, 2019 in Ranchi. As part of this seminar different dimensions of Gandhian Principles were discussed which are important for the Judicial System. The GSDS Director, Mr Dipanker Shri Gyan discussed the practical applications of Gandhian ethics and how to promote ethical legal practices. He discussed several case studies during his presentation.
The GSDS Programme Officer, Dr Vedabhyas Kundu made a presentation on Gandhian Approach to a Nonviolent Jurisprudence. A salient feature of the seminar was insightful presentations by students of several law colleges on Gandhian Principles and the Judiciary. Perspectives such as judicial empathy, restorative justice, Gandhi as a lawyer, issues related professional ethics etc were discussed.
Earlier the Vice Chancellor, Prof Kesava Rao Vurrakula in his introductory address underlined that for young lawyers there was much to learn from Gandhi the lawyer.

Director GSDS, Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan led the staff in paying tributes to former Member of Parliament from Odisha, Shri Alajangi Viswanath Swamy on December 31, 2019. He was 91. The former parliamentarian breathed his last at his residence in Khariar Road of Nuapada district. Born on July 18, 2019 in Nabarangpur district, Shri Swamy was elected to Upper House of Parliament, Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate from 2012 to 2018.
The Samiti members also paid a silent tribute to one of its housekeeping staff’s mother who passed away on December 31, 2019.

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, GSDS hosted a “Sadbhavna Preeti Bhoj Prasad” on December 26, 2019 in Gandhi Darshan. Rajiv Gandhi Kalyan Sansthan organised this programme by offering gifts to the poor children, especially the girl child. About 255+ people took part in the programme that saw a gathering of speakers like Shri Laxmi Dass, Vice President Harijan Sevak Sangh and EC Member GSDS, Dr. A K Merchant, Trustee Bahai House of Worship, Maj General (Retd) Shri Ranjit Singh AVSM VSM and former Vice Chancellor Central University & CRS University Jind, Smt. Jasbeer Kaur, Shri Mahendra Kumar Khattar Industrialist and Shri Om Prakash Batra Chairman and Trustee of Rajiv Gandhi Kalyan Sansthan.

Media Family in association with Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti organised a live painting demonstration on December 23, 2019 in Gandhi Darshan. Artists Mr. Harpal Singh Chauhan, Mr. Gulrez Alo, Ms. Anamika S, along with Ms. Mahi Yashodhar, Mr. Vikas Mishra did a live painting on Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the Father of the Nation as part of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Sr. Journalist and General Secretary of Delhi Journalist Association, Shri Amlesh Raju was also present on the occasion.

GSDS in association with ‘Ahimsa Trust’ organised a dialogue with almost 55 international participants from different parts of the world on a pilgrimage in the path of Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha. The delegation was led by Dharmacharya Shantum Seth of Ahimsa Trust. The members offered their tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Martyr’s Column in Gandhi Smriti on December 22, 2019.
Later in a dialogue with the participants, Dh. Shantum Seth said, “We are meandering through life and Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha guide us in our path of righteousness. Buddha’s ideas and Gandhiji’s use of these ideas in practical life is an example of sacrifice for humanity, which we all must follow”, adding, “Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha can light us in our enlightenment”.
Speaking about the concept of ‘ahimsa’ or nonviolence, Dh. Shantum Seth said, “In every Indian, there’s a string of Gandhi and these strings can build civilisations on the lines of ‘ahimsa’.
Speaking about spinning, he further said that “Spinning was Mahatma Gandhi’s constructive meditation, for Gandhi always wanted his country folks to be self sufficient and thereby have their own economy of permanence”.
Earlier Dr. Vedabhyas Kundu spoke on the initiatives of the GSDS and said that compassion, sympathy, empathy and understanding of the concepts of non-violence communication can usher in dialogue and peace.
On this occasion, Shri Dharamraj spun on the charkha which some of the delegations also... Read More

The Samiti organised a dialogue on “Launch of Non Killing India & One Crore Non Violent Family” in Gandhi Darshan on December 18, 2019. The discussion was chaired by Prof. N Radhakrishnan, Member Gandhi: 150 Committee, Government of India. The other participants at the discussion included Dr. Anoop Swarup, Shri Govindnathan Nair, Dr. Y P Anand, Du. Gurudutt, Prof. Sanjeev, Prof. Ramesh Kumar, Shri Yatish MIshra, Dr. Vedabhyas Kundu, students and youth.
Mooting the discussing, Prof. Radhakrishnan said, “We must give revive Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of young soldiers of peace, whom Gandhiji called the ‘Shanti Sainiks’ as a gift to Gandhiji’s 150th birth anniversary. Saying that “Violence travels fast and non-violence travels at a snail’s pace”, Prof Radhakrishnan called for taking this concept to the families, where the approach should be based on individual acceptance, and thereby we could reach to one crore families”.
Dr. Y P Anand while quoting how Mahatma Gandhi defined ‘Ahimsa’ referred to the indirect or structural violence in the society that needs to be addressed, to begin what he called as the basic right of a child to be educated. He said that one needs to have a clear definition of ‘non-killing’ and that it must also address structural killing or structural disparities, where there’s killing slowly by degrees. He stressed that the bottom lines in terms of Education, health and sanitation be clearly drawn to take this initiative further”.
Others... Read More

A dialogue on ‘Nationalism and Cultural Heritage’ was organised in Gandhi Darshan on December 10, 2019. The distinguished guests who addressed the gathering of over 400 participants spoke on the need to take pride in the cultural heritage of India. The guests who spoke on the occasion were, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, Dr. Murli Mahohar Joshi, Sadhvi Rithambara, Shri Trilokinath Pandey, Shri Vinay Katiyani, Shri C S Vaidyanathan and others.
Speakers like Shri L K Advani and Dr. M.M. Joshi while speaking about Lord Ram, said that Ram stood for the oppressed classes, he embraced the kewat (boatman) and even performed the last rites of the bird Jatayu. This was what Gandhiji had learnt from Ram’s teachings and applied it through patience and seriousness. They said that once the goal is achieved, one should remember that the work has just begun to make the country more strong. One should try to evolve to a level where conflict ends from within.
Sadhvi Rithambara spoke about how women in this country still feel insecure even before birth and how the rate of female foeticide is increasing. She appealed that our heritage is our women and we must evolve into a nation where a woman’s dignity is not tarnished and where every child feels secure.

GSDS organised a day-long discussion on “A Gandhian Path for a Global Non-Violent Planet: Strategies of Action for a Culture of Peace” in Gandhi Darshan on December 9, 2019. In this discussion, eminent Gandhians and other enlightened people of the country discussed on the procedure to establish peace in the world and the importance of non-violence in world peace. The chief speaker was Venerable Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche. Shri Laxmidas, Vice President of Harijan Seva Sangh moderated the discussion.
Inaugurating the discussion, Prof. Rinpoche said that if we expect change, then we have to change ourselves first. Only by changing ourselves, we can ask others for change. To end peace, we must first understand what is the root cause of Ashanti? Violence is the root cause of Ashanti (disturbance). The root cause of violence is malice, ignorance is the cause. So first we have to end ignorance to end the malice. The end of malice will end the violence, and the end of the violence automatically establishes peace. The Buddha said that the end of malice will not be with malice, but through malaise and compassion, hatred can be eliminated. Therefore, it is very necessary to end the animosity to try peace.
The others who took part in the discussion included: Shri Sri Krishna Kulkarni, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and member of the Gandhi-150 Committee, Dr. Ashok Pradhan, Director Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, Vice Chancellor of Shobhit Vishwavidyalaya Shri Kunwar Vijendra... Read More

Director GSDS, Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan, Asst Editor GSDS, Shri Pankaj Chaubey and author of the book “Unsung Builders of Modern India” Shri Pramod Kumar presented the copy of the GSDS publication to former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at a small function in Shri Pranab Mukherjee’s residence on December 6, 2019. Director GSDS also present a token memento to the former President.

Around 30 women from different areas of SEWA which included Mustafabad, Sundernagri, Harkeshnagar, Rajeevnagar, Raghubirnagar, New Ashoknagar, Uttamnagar, Jahangirpuri along with representatives from Punjab and Bihar took part in a training of trainers “Agewan Vikas Initiative Program” in Gandhi Darshan on December 4-5, 2019.
Discussion on the differences between the formal and the informal sector to get an idea of what the Aagewaans understand about the formal and informal sector and what are the benefits that the informal sector cannot access due to its nature was conducted. Group presentations formed a major part of the programme.

An orientation programme on how to ‘Inculcate Gandhian Values’ was organized for students of Delta Advance School, Imphal, Manipur on November 28, 2019. Different dimensions of Gandhian philosophy were discussed and how these can assimilated in daily lives by the children.
Dr Oinam Sareeta Devi, senior Gandhian and Dr Vedabhyas Kundu conducted the programe which saw interesting experience sharing by the children on how inculcating good values helps them.

A national seminar on “Gandhi’s Way to Peace: 21st Century Perspectives” was organised by GSDS in association with Assam University, Silchar was organised on November 14-15, 2019 in the University campus. 200 participants attended the seminar.
The seminar was inaugurated by His Excellency Sri Tathagata Roy, Honourable Governor of Meghalaya and emphasised that in order to draw proper lessons from a man’s life one must restrain from categorising his in the category of sainthood.
The participants and resource persons joined for a vibrant interaction on both the days of the seminar for a meaningful dialogue on Gandhian principles and ideology. Resource persons came all the way from the state of Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal and Delhi.
The keynote speakers were Prof. Nandana Dutta of Gauhati University and Prof. A. Natraju of Assam University. Other noted resource persons were from EFLU, Shillong and NIT, Silchar. As many as 42 papers were presented by academicians and research scholars.

1. September 14-16, 2019 at Nagda Madhya Pradesh
2. September 20-22, 2019 Pragoti Shikshan Sansthan, Dhodh Road, Sikkar (Rajasthan)
3. November 15–17, 2019 at Barrackpore Sadar Bazar, (Kolkata)
4. Sri B. N. Rai ji gave a keynote Address on the Subject on Trusteeship of Mahatma Gandhi and Labourisation of Lt. D. B. Thengadiji
A series of seminars were organized by Uthaan Foundation, Barrackpore Kolkata in association with GSDS with the following objectives:
1. To make aware the participants about the life and working of Mahatma Gandhi and Sri D.B.Thengadiji.
2. To make aware about Trusteeship and Labourisation
3. To publicise their 2 concepts in the public.
4. Industrialist and Mazdoor must know about their Real Role in developing Industry in the Country.
5. To minimize the Enemity and differences in Industrialist and Labour.

153 participants consisting of social workers, politicians, trade union leaders and students took part in the seminar organized by Uthaan Foundation at Rajasthan from September 20-22, 2019. Nagarpalika Chairman Smt. Aparna Roln inaugurated the seminar. Sri Ratan Jaldhar (Ex. M.L.A.) Sri Gobardhan Verma (Ex. M.L.A.) Sri Baij Nath Rai, Managing Trustee of Uthaan Foundation and Sri Sultan Singh Shekhawat, Ex. President, Madhya Pradesh, Asangathit Board and Sri Pratap Singh Shekhawat, Secretary of Uthaan Foundation Rajasthan Unit were present on the occasion.

181 persons took part in the programme. Sri Mangla Prasad Ex Principal ITI College, Sri Mithilesh Kumar Rai (Social Worker), Sri Awadhesh Kumar Mishra (President of Uthaan Foundation), Sri Baij Nath Rai, Managing Trustee of Uthaan Foundation attended the seminar. Shri Awadhesh Kumar Mishra, All India President of Uthaan Foundation presided over the 3 days seminars. Sri B. N. Rai gave the keynote Address on the Subject on Trusteeship of Mahatma Gandhi and Labourisation of Lt. D. B. Thengadiji. Discussions on the principles wealth, labour, trusteeship, Gandhian economics and social development took place during the seminar through the resource persons.

The Samiti in association with the Department of Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, Patna University organized a one-day seminar on “Gandhian Approach to Rural Development and Management” on November 23, 2019. The speakers at the seminar were: Mr Dipanker Shri Gyan, Director, GSDS; Prof Avinash Kumar Singh, NIUPA, New Delhi; Prof Upendra Reddy, Advisor, CIPS, Hyderabad; and Dr Vedabhyas Kundu, Programme Officer, GSDS.
Different dimensions of Gandhian approach to rural development were discussed in the seminar and the students came up with their own reflections on how Gandhian philosophy was critical for village self-development.

Shri Moongalal was given a befitting farewell by Director GSDS, Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan on November 30, 2019. Shri S A Jamal, Administrative Officer GSDS was also present on the occasion. Shri Moongalal served the GSDS for 36 years since 1983, first as a daily wager and then as a permanent employee as a security guard. Shri Moongalal hence retirement, has volunteered to continue to serve GSDS. Old colleagues of Shri Moongalal remembered him as a caring person, always with a smile and punctual.