'Navjivan' to give new life to Gandhian literature via e-books

, Oct 6: With a view to giving a new lease of life to Gandhian

, Gujarat-based publishing house 'Navjivan Trust', founded by

himself, has decided to bring out e-copies of all their books on the Father of the Nation.

According to those involved in implementation of this project, Navjivan will provide e-books on Gandhi either free or cheaper than the hard-copies. "We have planned to make e-copies of all the books on or by Mahatma Gandhi whichever have been published by Navjivan Trust. We have completed the task of making 150 to 200 e-books and other 600 e-books shall be completed within next two years," managing trustee of Navjivan, Vivek Desai said.

Navjivan Trust was established by Mahatma Gandhi in 1929 to propagate idea of Swaraj (self-rule), when India was struggling to free itself from the shackles of slavery of the British Raj. "If Mahatma Gandhi had been alive today, he would have been seen operating laptop," believes Desai.

'Navjivan Trust', located near Ashram road in the city, has published around 800 books related to Mahatma Gandhi and his thoughts mainly in Hindi, English and Gujarati languages.

"When the era changes, you have to change your product accordingly. If we do not start this project now, we will have to start it in next two to four years, so why not now," Desai said. Elaborating the idea behind the 'E-copy' project of all the books, Desai has said that Mahatma Gandhi is a global leader and people want to know more about him.

"The project will ensure that the books will be preserved and on the other hand it will cater to the demand of the world which always wants to read Mahatma Gandhi," he said. A city-based graphic designer Apurva Ashar, who is associated with the project, said the e-copies of the books will be either cheaper or be provided free of cost to the readers. "We will make an arrangement that out of 100 books, 30 would be provided free of cost. Apart from this, the price of e-books will always be lesser than the physical version, and this will continue in this project," Ashar said.

PTI