Gita Press Refuses Rs 1 Cr Cash Reward That Comes With Gandhi Peace Prize

The Gita Press on Monday refused to accept the cash prize of Rs 1 crore that comes along with the Gandhi Peace Prize that was conferred on the press amid a controversy over being picked for the honour.

The ministry of culture on Sunday announced that the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2021 will be conferred on Gita Press in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur to recognize its “outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods”.

The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award as a tribute to the ideals held by Mahatma Gandhi and was instituted by the government in 1995. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender.

A cash prize of Rs 1 crore comes along with the award apart from a citation, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item. In the past, organizations like ISRO and Ramakrishna Mission have been conferred with the prestigious award.

The ministry said in a statement that after due deliberations, a jury headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi unanimously decided to confer the award upon Gita Press to recognize its outstanding contribution to social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.

The statement read, “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi recalled the contribution of Gita Press, in promoting the Gandhian ideals of peace and social harmony. He observed that the conferment of Gandhi Peace Prize on Gita Press, on completion of hundred years of its establishment, is a recognition of the work done by the institution in community service.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Gita Press via a tweet. He wrote, “I congratulate Gita Press, Gorakhpur on being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize 2021. They have done commendable work over the last 100 years towards furthering social and cultural transformations among the people.”

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath conveyed his wishes to the Press. He wrote, “Heartiest congratulations to Gorakhpur-based Geeta Press, the most important centre of religious literature of Sanatan Dharma of India, on receiving the ‘Gandhi Peace Prize’ for the year 2021.”

It may be noted that Gita Press had been established in 1923 and is one of the largest publishers in the world. It has published 417 million books in 14 languages which includes 162 million copies of the Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, the statement mentioned.

However, the decision to confer the award on Gita Press was criticized by the Congress who called it a “travesty”.

In a tweet, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh wrote, “There is a very fine biography from 2015 of this organisation by Akshaya Mukul in which he unearths the stormy relations it had with the Mahatma and the running battles it carried on with him on his political, religious and social agenda. The decision is really a travesty and is like awarding Savarkar and Godse.”

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