Hubli is likely to get a replica of Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar said during the foundation- laying ceremony of Gandhi Study Centre at Gandhi Bhavan here on Friday.
In response to veteran journalist Patil Puttappa’s long-pending demand for a Gandhi Gram in Hubli, Shettar said: “I have already informed the district officials of Dharwad in this regard, and we are in the process of making a detailed plan and blueprint for it.”
The Chief Minister also announced that an additional sum of Rs 1.5 crore would be released to the Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi for the Gandhi Study Centre in Bangalore. Shettar also vowed to make Gandhi Jayanti, celebrated on October 2, a more meaningful day in the state.
“Gandhi Jayanti has become a mere symbolic exercise, which is not helping us realise the values and ideals that Mahatma Gandhi stood for. I will hold discussions with veteran Gandhians on how we can make this day more meaningful,” he said.
At the function, Patil Puttappa, who is fondly known as PaPu, demanded that the government establish Gandhi Bhavans in all 176 taluks of the state to promote Mahatma Gandhi’s values.
“There should be Gandhi Bhavans all over the state. Political parties should become secondary, and Mahatma Gandhi and his work should come first,” he said, and urged Shettar to surpass his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi in promoting Gandhian ideals.
Speaking on the occasion, former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa said those in power should adhere to the preaching of Gandhiji.
“Through all good and bad times, I have been an ardent follower of Gandhiji. Though he was a beacon to the nation, we seem to be forgetting him. This has resulted in untouchability, loss of secularism, tolerance and other virtues,” he said.
Former minister H K Patil, Kannada and Culture Secretary Basavaraju and principal chief architect from Public Works Department and architect of the Gandhi Study Centre K Udaya were also present.
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