Premchand's birth anniversary: Low key affair in native village

Varanasi, July 31 (UNI) The 126th birth anniversary of Hindi literary legend Munshi Premchand remained a low key affair in his native Lahami village here today.

Even the series of development works under the ambitious Munshi Premchand Memorial, being developed in the village at a cost of over Rs one crore, remained incomplete, despite sustained efforts by authorities to complete before the anniversary.

The announcement for developing the memorial for the great writer was made in the same village by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav last year on Premchand's 125th birth anniversary.

''It is sad that the memorial, expected to be complete by today, still remains incomplete, despite sustained efforts of the administration,'' village pradhan Santosh Kumar Singh said.

''The 125th birth anniversary was marked by much fanfare, especially with the CM himself, trouping down to this village and announcing a grand memorial, but the 126th birth anniversary seems far from becoming memorable,'' he added.

''We have been informed by officials that the CM will be in the village soon to dedicate the memorial, which will be complete shortly,'' the village pradhan said.

Out of the ambitious project, only the imperial gate at the village entrance flanked by eight fibre glass statues of characters of Premchand's creations and the beautiful garden have been completed till date, while the work on renovating the paternal house of the legendary novelist, besides a pond behind the house was underway.

Meanwhile, a function was organised in the village to mark the occasion under the auspices of Sri Premchand Smarak Bhawan and Vikas Yojna Samiti which saw among others the presence of top officials including Divisional Commissioner V V Bishwen and District Magistrate Rajiv Agrawal.

The function comprised two plays on Premchand's short stories ''Maiku'' and ''Panch Parmeshwar'' enacted by the artists of Asmita Natya Sansthan and Prerna Kala Manch.

Addressing the occasion, both Mr Bishwen and Mr Agrawal, underlined that the creations penned by the great writer were relevant in the modern period also.

A programme was also organised by the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) to celebrate the anniversary. It comprised a seminar on ''Premchand -- in contemporary India'' and the screening of a short film based on the great writer's creation 'Kafan'.

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