The works cover the period from 1884 to 1948 in a chronological order as they cover almost 60 years of Gandhiji's intensively active public life.
Jayalalithaa presented Congress members with documentary evidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly to validate an AIADMK minister’s argument that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to dissolve the century-old political party after Independence.
Responding to a demand by some Congress members, who had sought proof that Gandhi had advocated dissolving of the Congress after Independence, Jayalalithaa stunned them by reading out excerpts from The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi — Volume 90.
“Though split into two, India having attained political independence through means devised by the Indian National Congress, the Congress in its present shape and form, i.e., as a propaganda vehicle and parliamentary machine had outlived its use,” the state CM read out, embarrassing the Congress members present.
What are the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi?
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi is a collection of Gandhi's writings, including letters, essays and personal notes, interviews that culminated in a 100-volume set of over 50,000 pages. The series reveals the richness of Gandhiji's mind and also reflect the times when India was under British rule fighting for independence.
The works cover the period from 1884 to 1948 in a chronological order as they cover almost 60 years of Gandhiji's intensively active public life. The official site of the series by the Publications Division says that the objective of the series is to reproduce Gandhiji's actual words as far as possible. Appendices provide the background material relevant to the text. Acknowledgements, sources, chronology and indices also form part of the individual volume.
Collected works in the news
In 2009, the series were in the news as many state had not placed orders for re-prints. Priced at Rs100 per volume at the time, the 'highly-subsidised' set was expected to be in demand across the country.
Considered to be the most authoritative and exhaustive collection of Gandhi's writings, Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi took roughly 40 years to be compiled. Between February 1956 and 1994, three editor-in-chiefs and two deputy editors looked after the compilation of the collection.
Many Gandhians believe the edition as a complete set is not available with any library in the country.
In 1998, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had decided to stop reprinting of the volume and instead brought out a revised edition.
As a result, the second printed edition of Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, and a compact disc came out in 2000.
Gandhians across the world had protested against this edition and the CD, claiming a number of omissions and mistakes.
In mid-2005, the Ministry issued an order to withdraw the revised edition and the CD.
On May 17, 2009, a day after the UPA returned to power at the Centre for a second term, tenders were floated for print orders.
Scholars at Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, which was founded by Gandhi in 1920, have been scanning the original version of the collection, cleaning the blemishes, stains, ink blots and markings. They collected the 100 volumes of the original edition for the process.
5 controversies related to Mahatma Gandhi
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