CURATED BY – GAURAV SINGHAL | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Saharanpur, under the chairmanship of District Magistrate Manish Bansal, the 155th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, the priest of truth and non-violence, and the 120th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, the epitome of honesty and simplicity, were celebrated in the Collectorate in an atmosphere of respect, honour and joy. After hoisting the flag at 9:00 am by District Magistrate Manish Bansal in the Collectorate premises, flowers and garlands were offered with respect on the pictures of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Along with this, Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Dr. Archana Dwivedi, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Rajneesh Kumar Mishra, City Magistrate Gajendra Kumar along with all other administrative officers and employees of the Collectorate and other dignitaries garlanded and paid homage to the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri and offered flowers.

District Magistrate Manish Bansal said that whatever is said about the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri is less. Lal Bahadur Shastri showed the right direction to the country in difficult times and with determination helped the country overcome the problems. During the food crisis, when he was the Prime Minister of the country, he himself stopped consuming milk and reduced other food items and while addressing the country, said that we need to bring changes in our lives by keeping restraint. He said that before applying rules on others, apply them on yourself. We can learn from the lives of both the great men how to help others. Assimilating the practical aspect of their principles and ideals will be our true tribute to them. Throwing light on Gandhiji's non-violent leadership style, ideology, integrity, patriotism and Shastriji's self-confidence, firm belief, simple, straightforward nature and indomitable courage, he inspired the people present to learn from the lifestyle and work style of these great men and include it in their habits. Additional District Magistrate Administration Dr. Archana Dwivedi said that Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary is celebrated as Non-Violence Day all over the world. Expressing her views on Gandhiji's message of Swadeshi, Satya Ahimsa and cleanliness, she said that along with external cleanliness, it is important to keep our inner self clean as well. So that we can help people as much as possible.

Additional District Magistrate Finance and Revenue Rajneesh Kumar Mishra, while paying homage to the great men, said that with the passage of time, the relevance of Gandhiji's thoughts is increasing. Gandhiji's life is a philosophy. He said that imbibing simple living and high thinking in your life is the true tribute to him.

City Magistrate Gajendra Kumar inspired people to follow the path shown by great men in the most difficult times by singing the song Sukh ke sab saathi, dukh me na koi. Divyaang Kuldeep Pal sang Gandhiji's favourite bhajan "Raghupati Raghav Rajaram, Patit Pavan Sita Ram" Vaishnav Jan Tai Tere Kahiye, Peer Parayi Jane Hai... with Ramdhun. The District Magistrate honoured him by giving him a shawl. On this occasion, Deputy Collector Shweta Pandey and Dr. Purva along with other speakers expressed their views on the works, principles and simple lifestyle of Gandhiji and Shastriji by presenting various methods, memoirs and examples. The speakers expressed their views on non-violent determination, simple but ambitious personality, life philosophy etc. in the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri and emphasized the need for its relevance in the current perspective. The district magistrate honoured Ravindra Kumar, the head assistant, Paras Kumar, Vinod Kumar, the fourth class employee, Sanjeev Kumar, the electrician, and Sanjeev Kumar, the sanitation worker, by giving them certificates for discharging their official and governmental duties with full dedication and devotion.