 OTHER PROGRAMMES

16.01. This chapter deals with (1) Gandhi Centenary, (2) Other Centenary Celebrations; (3) Copyright; (4) Publications; and (5) Displaced Students from Pakistan.

A: GANDHI CENTENARY

16.02. The Gandhi Centenary celebrations in this country and abroad have been a leading event of the year. The entire programme was organised by the National Committee for the Gandhi Centenary through its twelve sub-committees, each dealing with a specific theme or programme. State Committees were also constituted to organise activities in their respective areas. During the year, the Ministry sanctioned a grant-in-aid of Rs. 90 lakh to the National Committee. The celebrations were observed in India from 2nd October, 1968 to 22nd February, 1970, while celebrations abroad coincided generally with the Centenary Year, October 2, 1968-October 2, 1969.

16.03. Gandhi Darshan:

The outstanding feature of the celebrations, was the Gandhi Darshan Exhibition inaugurated by the Prime Minister at New Delhi on October 1, 1969. The exhibition had six main pavilions, each projecting its theme through impressive photographic, pictorial and other visual and audio-visual media of representation, a children's comer, educational exhibits, library and reading room, and a pets' corner. Among the foreign countries, the UK and the USSR put up their own pavilions, while other countries sent materials which were exhibited in an international pavilion. The Gandhi Darshan was also taken to people all over the country in the trains. It formally came to a close on February 24, 1970, with a valedictory function presided over by the President of India.

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16.04. Seminars in India:

Numerous seminars were organised in the States and universities. An International Seminar on the Relevance of Gandhi to Our Times was held in Delhi on January 30- February 5, 1970. Inaugurated by the President of India, it was attended by 92 eminent thinkers and philosophers of whom 36 came from, abroad.

16.05. Other Major Features:

The other main features of the celebrations in India were : (a) holding campus for mass contact, (b) distribution of calendars, badges, pictures, folders, (c) screening the film , 'Mahatma' in various cities, (d) broadcast of speeches, talks and other programmes on Gandhiji by AIR, (e) free distribution of several thousand copies of the books, "Message of Mahatma Gandhi" and "Lessons from Gandhiji", (f) an instructive exhibition "Gandhi through the Cartoonist's Eyes" opened by Mr. Malcolm Muggeridge, the former editor of 'Punch', at Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, (g) organising Shanti Sena, Kishore Sena and Taruna Sena groups in various States and holding all-India and inter-State camps, (h) obtaining the donation of 25,000 wells in rural areas from 9 voluntary organizations, (i) under the social programmes, requesting State Governments to amend the municipal bye-laws, so that new constructions are not allowed without the provision of water-borne latrines, (j) almost abolishing the practice of carrying night soil on heads in Kerala and Gujarat, (k) emphasizing fight against social evils like child marriage, immoral traffic, untouchability, etc., (1) setting up national integration samitis in universities and public undertakings, and (m) bringing out three publications on the theme of national integration, namely, (i) "Gandhiji's India-Unity in Diversity", by the National Book Trust in English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Tamil, released on 2nd October 1968, (ii) an anthology of selections from the literature of each of the Indian languages in English through the Gandhi Peace Foundation, whose Hindi version has been arranged to be brought out through the Ministry; and (iii) a book of National Songs in all Indian languages in Devanagiri script with their gists in Hindi and English

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16.06. Celebrations by Unesco:

An International Symposium on Truth and Non-Violence on Gandhi's Humanism was convened by Unesco in Paris on October 14-17, 1969 in consultation with the Indian National Commission for Unesco. Some 25 participants came from all over the world to attend the symposium. The Indian participants were: Shri G. Ramachandran, M.P. and Shri Romesh Thapar. Shri S. Chakravarti, Union Education Secretary and Secretary-General of the Indian National Commission for Unesco represented the INC at the inauguration of the seminar.

16.07. Celebrations Abroad:

The Sub-Committee for Celebration of Gandhi Centenary Abroad strove to mobilise various agencies like the Unesco, Indian National Commission for Unesco, National Commissions of Unesco in other countries and Indian Missions abroad for the success of the Centenary celebrations all over the world. The activities in this sphere were mainly of three types, namely, supply of material for exhibition and other purposes, holding essay competitions, and sending eminent Indians on lecture missions. 360 exhibition kits on Mahatma Gandhi, publications on Gandhiji, 50 photographic exhibitions each consisting of 100 photographs of Gandhi depicting different aspects of his life, and two articles on Gandhiji were sent for distribution to schools and Gandhi's busts and statues were supplied to various countries for exhibition, seminars and other purposes, mostly free of charge. The Sub-Committee also met half the cost of a large oil painting of Gandhiji for the Gandhi Memorial Library opened at Bangkok in connection with the Centenary.

16.08. An International Essay Competition in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic) on "Gandhi and the Emancipation of Man" for two groups, namely, students and non-student adults, was organised. Two prizes were awarded to each group in each language. The winners were given a free air trip of India and back and a month's free hospitality in this country.

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16.09. The Sub-Committee sent eminent persons abroad to lecture on and interpret Gandhiji to foreign audiences. Shri R. R. Diwakar, Honorary Secretary, and Shri Devendra Kumar Gupta, Organising Secretary, of the National Committee for the Gandhi Centenary, visited ten European countries, viz., UK, France, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, East Berlin and USSR. In the UK they also participated in the International Symposium organised by Martin Luther King Foundation in London. Shri D. G. Tendulkar went to Middle East countries and the USSR, and Shri K. Santhanam to African countries. The others included Shri Jai Prakash Narayan, Shri A. G. Sheorey, Prof. K. G. Saiyidain, Shri G. Ramachandran, Prof. N. G. Ranga and Dr. Sushila Nayar. With the exhibition kits and other material available, exhibitions, seminars, film shows, meetings, cultural programmes, competitions, etc. were held in foreign countries. There was a very great and sympathetic interest in the observance of the Centenary and leading personalities in different countries associated themselves with it. The broadcasting and television organisations, and the press helped to give wide coverage and publicity to the programmes connected with the Centenary.

16.10. National Seminar on Gandhian Values in Education:

The activities relating to Gandhi Centenary Celebrations, both in this country and abroad, under the auspices of the Gandhi Centenary Committee have been described above. The National Seminar on Gandhian Values in Indian Education was held at Sevagram. on February 9-11, 1970 under the direct auspices of the Ministry in which distinguished educationists, social workers and others from all over India participated. The Union Education Minister addressed the seminar and participated in its discussion on February 10-11, 1970. Participants in the seminar held two sessions of discussion with Acharya Vinobha Bhave at Gopuri near Wardha and received his guidance and advice. The seminar emphasised three fundamental values in education, viz.

(a) diginity of manual labour through the use of work as a part of the educational programme;

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(b) a sense of social awareness and social responsibility through the involvement of students and teachers in meaningful programmes of community service; and

(c) the promotion of a secular outlook or sarvadharama samabhava through an understanding of the fundamental unity of all religions.

The seminar desired that suitable minimum programmes should be developed to realise those values and students should be involved in their planning and implementation. Further followup actions like the creation of a cell in the Ministry and the appointment of a Standing Committee were being considered. It is likely that the whole subject may be considered in the next meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education and another seminar would be convened in due course to review the progress made in implementing the recommendations.

B: OTHER CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

16.11. Gum Nanak Quin-Centenary Celebration :

The 500th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak fell on 23rd November, 1969. To celebrate the historic occasion in a befitting manner the Government of India set up a National Committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister with the Education Minister as its convenor. The Centenary was celebrated in India and abroad. The inaugural function of the celebrations was held at Rabindra Rangshala, New Delhi on 20th November, 1969 under the presidentship of the Vice-President; the pro- gramme included speeches, bhajans and kirtan darbars. Several agencies, governmental and non-governmental, took a number of steps to celebrate the Centenary as well as to provide lasting measures to disseminate Guru Nanak Dev's message and teachings. The Sahitya Akademi held four seminars on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak at Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, while another at Ludhiana was in its programme All India Radio broadcasts included special feature programmes in all languages on Guru Nanak's life and teachings. A special commemorative stamp was released by the P & T Department.

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Under Unesco auspices, the English translation of Guru Nanak Hymns by Khushwant Singh was published. The National Book Trust in conjunction with Guru Nanak Foundation undertook to bring out a selection of Guru Nanak's poetry entitled 'Nanak Bani' and also Dr. Gopal Singh's biography of Guru Nanak in all the Indian languages. The biography of Guru Nanak in different Indian languages was released by the Prime Minister at the inaugural function held at Rabindra Rangshala on 20th November, 1969.

16.12. The Government of Punjab have set up the Guru Nanak University at Amritsar with assistance from the University Grants Commission. The UGC also asked all universities to raise an endowment for annual Guru Nanak lectures on national integration, secularism and for the publication of series of these lectures. The Ministry has drawn up a scheme of Student Service Institutes to be set up at selected places in the country. The institutes will be housed in buildings to be named as 'Nanak Bhavans'. A Guru Nanak Institute for Comparative Study of Religions and Musicology is being set up in Delhi by the Guru Nanak Foundation, New Delhi. It has been decided to give a building grant of Rs. 25 lakh to the Foundation for are purpose. The estimated expenditure of the Ministry on the Celebrations was of the order of Rs. 50 lakh.

16.13. Lenin, Centenary:

It has been decided to celebrate Lenin Centenary in April, 1970. The detailed programmes are being formulated.

16.14. C. R. Das Centenary:

It has also been decided to celebrate the Centenary of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. The details of the programme are being formulated.

C: COPYRIGHT

16.15. India is a member of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works known as the Berne

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Union. The Berne Convention was last revised aft Stockholm in June- July 1967. The Stockholm revision of the Berne Convention contemplates certain facilities for the developing countries in regard to the reproduction of original foreign works and translation of foreign works into regional languages of the developing countries on certain conditions. These provisions have been made in the Berne Convention with a view to meeting the growing educational needs of the developing countries. The revised text of the Berne Convention has not so far been ratified by the developed countries such as UK, France. etc. During 1969, four meetings were held with a view to evolving some agreement under which the facilities granted under the Berne Convention would be available to the developing countries. A Joint Study Group held at Washington has now suggested that the Universal Copyright Convention be amended with a Protocol in favour of developing countries and that the Stockholm Protocol be dropped from the Berne Convention.

16.16. During 1969, the copyright of 1,211 artistic works and 390 literary works was registered with the Copyright Office.

16.17. The Copyright Board set up under the provisions of Copyright Act was reconstituted towards the end of 1968. The reconstituted Copyright Board consists of 7 members under the chairmanship of Shri Justice J. K. Tandom, retired Judge of Allahabad High Court. The Copyright Board held several meetings during 1969, an disposed of a number of cases.

D.PUBLICATIONS

16.18. The Publication Unit in the Ministry of Education and Youth Services is the main publishing agency of the Ministry, although a few publications are brought out by other units/sections. At present, three journals, namely, 'The Education Quarterly', 'Cultural Forum' and 'Sanskriti' (Hindi counterpart of Cultural Forum) are being brought out. Besides the journals, other publications of the Unit comprise the annual administratve report of the Ministry, reports of various com-

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mittees, commission, etc, set up by the Ministry, reports of important meetings, conferences, etc. convened,by it and other pamphlets and brochures on the subjects of its competence. Among the publications brought out, special mention may be-made of 'Supplementary Volume 11 of the Report of the Education Commission (1964-66)' which provides the statistical base of the findings of the Education Commission.

16.19. The Unit sells and helps to promote the sale of the various publications and journals brought out by it. Its Casual Sales Depot, situated, as it is, in a central place like Connaught Circus in the Capital, also sells publications brought out by various other offices/organisations of the Ministry like the NCERT, Lalit Kala Akademi, CSTT, CHD, etc.

E: DISPLACED STUDENTS

16.20. Indo-Pakistan Agreement on the Issue of Certificates of Displaced Persons :

In accordance with the agreement between the Government of India and Pakistan, the Education Ministry of each country is responsible for the clearance of all applications for educational certificates as well as for the verification of educational qualifications. 2458 certificates were furnished against 2488 applications, the outstanding cases being only 30 fresh applications. The Government of Pakistan, on the other band, furnished 4059 certificates against 4926 applications; thus 767 applications from Indian nationals, are still outstanding with that Government. Besides, 270 old applications sent prior to agreement to the Government of Pakistan are also outstanding.

16.21. Financial Assistance to Displaced Students from Pakistan:

This scheme was expected to be wound up by the end of the second Plan. But to avoid any hardship to such students as were in the midst of their courses, it was decided to continue the scheme with a limited provision, till 1970-71.

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16.22. Financial Allocations :

The finacial allocations for the major programmes described above, during 1967-70 and 1970-71, are given below:

        
                                                            (Rs. in lakhs)
        
                                          
        Sl.    Scheme             Provision for 1969-70         Budget
        
                                                               Estimates
                                  Original    Revised          1970-71
                                          
        
        
        1   Gandhi Centenary
            Celebrations            100.00     100.00            1.91
        
        2   Guru Nanak Centenary
            Schemes and Programmes    ..         0.30            27.70
        
        3   Nanak Bhavans             ..         5.00           15.00
        
        4   Celebration of Centenarie ..          ..            11.00