The project, conceived by Congress-NCP govt in 2013, is now much narrower in scope — focus is only Gandhi, not development of Wardha.
Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government is rushing to complete the makeover of Sevagram, where Mahatma Gandhi once lived, and put it on the global map like Gujarat’s Sabarmati.
After targeting the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) dispensation for not implementing the Sevagram development project it conceived in 2013, the BJP government too has sat on it for four years. It is now chasing an ambitious October 2019 deadline.
However, the project, located in Wardha, is much narrower in scope and costs Rs 144.99 crore, less than a third of the original estimate of Rs 495 crore.
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Gandhi in focus
Sudhir Mungantiwar, Maharashtra’s Finance and Planning Minister, who pulled up officials for the pace of work not being up to expectations in a meeting last month, told ThePrint he was confident of meeting the 2 October, 2019, deadline.
“We have not narrowed down the scope, but decided to limit the Sevagram development project to be focused on Gandhiji,” said Mungantiwar, who is also spearheading the project as the guardian minister for Wardha.
“Their (Congress) focus was not entirely on Gandhiji. Under the name of Mahatma Gandhi, their plan included works related to roads and water supply of Wardha too.”
The government has allotted a separate budget of about Rs 80 crore to the state urban development department to develop the urban infrastructure in Wardha, said Mungatiwar.
When he set out on his march in 1930, Gandhi had decided not to return to Sabarmati till India gets independence. He came to Wardha in 1934 at the invitation of Jamnalal Bajaj, an industrialist and a disciple of Gandhi, and decided to make the Shegaon village his residence in April 1936. He renamed the village Sevagram, which means ‘village of service.’ Gandhi lived at the Sevagram ashram till his death in 1948.
The project
The BJP-led government had first approved a plan of Rs 255.53 crore in November 2015, about a year after it assumed office. However, in October 2016, the state government issued a government resolution hiving off a ‘Gandhi for Tomorrow’ theme park, which was a major attraction that the Congress-NCP government had originally included in the plan.
‘Gandhi for Tomorrow’ was a proposed theme park and convention centre to give information on Gandhian arts, culture and technology. As per the government resolution, the project was to be independently approved.
The current plan includes building an international research centre, a library, interactive education galleries giving information on Gandhi, recreation zones near the Sevagram ashram such as an amphitheatre and a cafeteria, lecture rooms and accommodation quarters, a state government official said.
“We are also developing a concept called swarajya pheri, which will be a heritage walk around Sevagram for visitors, guiding them to all the places there that have held historic and cultural significance,” the official said.
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On Gandhi’s 150th birthday Tuesday, the Maharashtra government planned to install what it said will be the world’s largest charkha outside the Sevagram ashram. Meanwhile, the Congress will hold its working committee meeting at Sevagram.
‘Financial constraints’
Congress leader Rajendra Mulak, who was guardian minister for Wardha in the previous government, said the BJP-led government made tall promises in every sector but has been facing financial constraints.
“As a result, they are downsizing several projects and schemes. Unfortunately, they have chosen to do that with a project for Mahatma Gandhi too,” said Mulak.
The current guardian minister has not fully comprehended the Congress-led government’s plan for Sevagram, he said.
“We had developed an extensive plan incorporating various aspects of Gandhiji’s ideology — his technology, the charkha, the flavour of the innumerable speeches he made at Pavner and Wardha,” said Mulak.
“A number of international and national scholars visit Sevagram to research on Mahatma Gandhi. We had planned a big international convention centre for them,” the Congress leader said.
He added that the government had also identified a number of spots along the 76-km road travel from Nagpur to Wardha where the government could install trivia about Gandhi’s life.
“The idea was that when a tourist comes to Sevagram, he should be able to get a sense of Gandhiji’s thoughts and ideas through the entire 70-80 km he travels to get there,” added Mulak.