Soon, app on the Mahatma

In a bid to make information on Mahatma Gandhi readily available to the youth, the Ministry of Culture is all set to launch an app which will provide access to letters, communication, handwritten books and all other relevant information on the Mahatma.

The app will have every aspect of the Mahatma, his life, work, places of visit and his correspondence. The Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust has already launched the “Gandhi Heritage Portal”.  

“The portal is a one-stop shop for researchers, academics and students wanting to know about Gandhiji,” said B S Bhatia, project director.  

He said every film on Gandhiji and every book that has been written about him is part of the portal. Bhatia said the portal has already received thousands of hits and is always being upgraded.  

“Any new work on Gandhiji from any corner of the world, once the copyright issues are sorted out are uploaded,” said Bhatia. He said this was a one-stop shop for academicians and researchers, who would no longer have to go through various sites for authentic information. 

He said that there were now proposals to upload messages written by dignitaries like Nelson Mandella, more recently the US ambassador. “All the messages written by these people in the visitors notebook will be uploaded on the portal,” said Bhatia.

Speaking about the app on the Mahatma, Virat Kothari, IT head of the project said, “The app will enable any youth who wants to enrich his knowledge about Gandhiji.”  

All the features present in the portal will be uploaded in this app and will be very user friendly. So while on travel or even in a non-WiFi zone, if the material is already downloaded, it will be of value to the youth who want to read and view related history at leisure. 

Kothari said the app will ensure that all the movies on Gandhiji, which had received critical acclaim across the world, would also be available. Apart from the app on Gandhiji, a special app is also being created for the Sabarmati Ashram.  

“Visitors can select the place they want to see and the history of the place and the importance will be available to the person on app in their preferred language,” said Kothari. He said that these apps would soon become a reality.