PM Inaugurates Kochrab Ashram, launches Plan of Gandhi Ashram Memorial

Context

The Prime Minister has inaugurated the refurbished Kochrab Ashram and unveiled the Master Plan for the Gandhi Ashram Memorial at the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

About Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development Project

• Location: More than 120 acres of land on the Sabarmati River in the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
• Budget: Rs 1,200 crore.
• Masterplan of the Project: The Masterplan suggests restoring, conserving, and rebuilding almost half of the 63 structures that existed in the original ashram. 
  • In total, 36 structures will be repaired and 20 will be preserved.

Settlements of Mahatma Gandhi

Kochrab Ashram

• Kochrab Ashram was the 1st Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi after coming to India from South Africa in 1915.
  • It is maintained by Gujarat Vidyapeeth.

About Dandi March

Major Non-Violent protest: The Dandi March, also known as Salt March / Salt Satyagraha, was a major non-violent protest action led by Mahatma Gandhi in March-April 1930.

• First Act of Civil disobedience: The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience (satyagraha) Gandhi waged against the British rule in India that extended into early 1931.
• Support: It garnered Gandhi widespread support among the Indian populace and considerable worldwide attention.
• Names: The Salt March is also known as the Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha. 
• People involved: It was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. He started this march with around 80 volunteers. Many people joined him on the way. 
• Duration: The 24-day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930. 
• Journey: Gandhi led the Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram, 240 miles to the coastal village of Dandi, which was at a small town called Navsari (in Gujarat). 
• Objective: 
  • It was a direct-action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly under the 1882 British Salt Act. 
  • Objective was to produce salt from the seawater in the coastal village of Dandi, as was the practice of the local populace until British officials introduced taxation on salt production and deemed their sea-salt reclamation activities illegal. 
• Significance: 
• • Poorna Swaraj declaration: The march directly followed the Poorna Swaraj declaration of sovereignty and self-rule by the Indian National Congress on 26 January 1930.
  • It started the nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement. When Gandhi broke the salt laws on 6 April 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians. 

News Source: Indian Express