Haryana to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti in Mewat village

Chandigarh, Sep 20 (UNI) The Haryana government has decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 with a state-level function at Ghasera village in Mewat district.

Talking to reporters here today, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said a statue of Mahatma Gandhi would also be unveiled in the village on this occasion.

He said the decision to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti at Ghasera had been taken keeping in view the fact that the Mahatma had visited the village to motivate the Meos, the local Muslim population, to desist from migrating to Pakistan in 1947.

Mr Hooda said his father Ch Ranbir Singh had brought Mahatma Gandhi to this village on December 19, 1947. The then Chief Minister of Punjab Gopi Chand Bhargav and Mr Yasin Khan, a prominent Meo leader, also accompanied Mahatma Gandhi.

He said the efforts of these leaders succeeded and there was no further migration from the area.

Mr Hooda said the government would also appoint 10,760 'safai karamcharis' in villages on this day so as to maintain sanitation in rural areas. They would be appointed on contract basis and paid an amount of Rs 3525 per month.

UNI