About Us
This website has been hosted by Paramdham Prakashan, a wing of Gram-sewa Mandal, Wardha, which is the only institution that Vinoba founded and which holds copyright of Vinoba’s literature. Gram-sewa Mandal is an institution registered under Societies Registration Act 1860 and Bombay Public Trusts Act 1950. The present board of trustees consists of Ms. Karuna Futane (President), Kaushal Mishra (Secretary), Atul Sharma, Malati Deshmukh and Parag Cholkar.
Vinoba established Gram-sewa Mandal in 1934 to work for village service in an integrated way, as an extension of the Satyagraha Ashram at Wardha. The Mandal did pioneering work in the field and was instrumental in launching institutions to look after neglected areas like leprosy and removal of hides of dead cattle. Dedicated workers like Babaji Moghe, Manohar Diwan, Gopalrao Walunjkar, Gopalrao Kale, Dwarakanath Lele, Dattoba Dastane, Bhau Panse, Shivaji Bhave, Balkoba Bhave, Radhakrishna Bajaj, Sadashiv Gadre, Kundar Diwan, Vallabhaswami, Ranjit Desai, Gajanan Naik, Methe, Ramdas Gulati, Anasooya Bajaj etc. gave the Mandal a distinctive identity.
A bulletin was started initially for the inmates of Wardha Ashram. It was named ‘Gram-sewa vrutta’ (News about village service) in 1937. A monthly ‘Sevak’ for wider circulation followed. It was natural for the Mandal to take up publication of Vinoba’s works. Eventually the publication activity was organised under the banner of ‘Paramdham Prakashan’.
Paramdham Prakashan has been publishing Vinoba’s literature, particularly in Marathi, since more than 60 years. Besides publishing Vinoba’s original writings, it has published scores of books presenting Vinoba’s thoughts on various subjects, compiled and edited from his voluminous literature. Books of other Gandhian thinkers are also published from time to time. While most of the publications are in Marathi, books in Hindi and English are also published. To mark Vinoba’s birth centenary, his selected works were published in Hindi in 21 volumes. Shri Gautam Bajaj was the chief editor of the project. As dissemination of thoughts, and not profit is the motive, the publications are priced as low as possible.
Those who looked after the Prakashan in the past include Kundar Diwan, Bhau Panse, Ranjit Desai, Rambhau Mhaskar and Parag Cholkar. Presently, it is being looked after by Ms. Karuna Futane.
About the Website
This website has been created by MKCL (Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd.), Pune, a renowned institution in India, true to its mission of creating a knowledge-lit world and known particularly for its contribution in skill development in the sector of information technology.
Hosted by the copyright-holders of Vinoba’s literature, this website is official and authentic. It has been designed as a comprehensive website where researchers and viewers desirous of knowing about Vinoba’s life, work and literature as well as the history of Bhoodan-Gramdan Movement will find a wealth of material. Vinoba’s works published by us are available here for free downloading, and so are many out-of-print books by Vinoba and on Vinoba and his work. The ‘Archives’ section includes issues of important journals up to 1974 and reports of meetings and conferences of Sarvodaya workers during the Bhoodan-Gramdan Movement. Thus this website is an essential resource for the study of Vinoba and the Bhoodan-Gramdan movement which he initiated and led.
There has been dearth of Vinoba’s works translated in English. This website will strive to provide as much material in this regard as possible and thereby acquaint a wider global audience with Vinoba’s refreshingly original and radical ideas, which can give invaluable lessons for the present and the future.
Dr. Parag Cholkar, who has written the history of Bhoodan-Gramdan Movement besides editing/translating several books by Vinoba, is the co-ordinator of the website.
An advisory committee has also been constituted. It includes:
- Dr. Abhay Bang, known for his pioneering work in the field of public health in tribal region in Maharashtra, and initiator of ‘Nirman’, an activity to involve youth in social affairs.
- Vivek Sawant, who has been leading MKCL (Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd.) with distinction and has contributed in designing supercomputer in India.
- Dr. Anand Nadkarni, a psychiatrist, writer, and founder of the Institute of psychological Health, known for innovative work in the field of mental health.
- Milind Bokil, a sociologist and social activist, and a well-known name in the field of Marathi literature.
- Daniel Mazgaonkar, a senior Sarvodaya worker.