Sabarmati Ashram Revamp:
Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi has moved the Gujarat High Court against the Gujarat government’s ₹1,200-crore plan to redevelop Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.
- The redevelopment plan involves extending its area from five to 55 acres by relocating residents to nearby areas.
- Tusha Gandhi says, this plan is diametrically opposed to the personal wishes of Mahatma Gandhi.
- The project would lead to the reduction of the shrine and memorial of the freedom movement and turning the ashram into a commercial tourist attraction spot
- The Gujarat government has maintained that it would not change or alter any building on the ashram campus. All heritage buildings would be restored as per Gandhian ethos.
- The government has also maintained that the proposal to redevelop the ashram was not aimed at a takeover but to redevelop it by expanding the areas and creating a minimum infrastructure.
About Sabarmati Ashram:
- Mahatma Gandhi set up the ashram and lived there from 1917 to 1930.
- It was from his base here that Gandhi led the Dandi march also known as the Salt Satyagraha on 12 March 1930.
- Originally called the Satyagraha Ashram, reflecting the movement toward passive resistance launched by the Mahatma, the Ashram became home to the ideology that set India free.
