Sevagram Ashram refuses Central aid

Sevagram Ashram, 8 kilometres from Wardha, that is preserving memories of Mahatma Gandhi has refused to accept a Central grant of five million rupees towards its upkeep.

Wardha (Maharashtra), June 16 : Sevagram Ashram, 8 kilometres from Wardha, that is preserving memories of Mahatma Gandhi has refused to accept a Central grant of five million rupees towards its upkeep.

The grant was released by the Centre after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the place last year.

"Till date we have never taken money from the Government. The Centre proposed some conditions whereby we will have to incorporate one government member in our association. Then we will have to keep the money in the corpus and will have to work with the interest money we get from it, so our committee decided to refuse the money," said Madhukar Bharatchandra Nisal, Secretary of the ashram.

The ashram looks for 'selfless' donations from Gandhian supporters, and hopes to set up an International centre for imparting Gandhian philosophy.

"We want to maintain the memories preserved here. Secondly, we want to develop the ashram on the lines of the model villages practised in the nearby villages and thirdly, we want to set up an International Gandhi centre here to impart his philosophy and writings," added Madhukar Bharatchandra Nisal.

ANI