18th October, 1920. It has been deemed university since 1963
Extension
CWMG
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi is a monumental document of Gandhiji's words as he spoke and wrote, day after day, year after year, beginning with the year 1884 till his last moment on this earth, i.e. on January 30, 1948. In this series, his writings, scattered all over the world, have been collected and constructed with stringent academic discipline and with an ethical sense of loyalty.
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi - CWMG-KS-1956-1994 edition, called as such after Prof. Swaminathan, the chief architect of the series, had taken about 38 years in the making (1956-1994). They are a series of one hundred volumes, intricately connected across the canvas, as an integrated whole. The control and guidance of the content was exclusively vested in the CWMG Advisory Board, consisting of the worthy first-generation veteran associates of Gandhiji, led by Morarji Desai, with Pyarelalji, Devdas Gandhi, Shrimannarayan, Kakasaheb Kalelker, as members among others. Editorial exercise was assigned to carefully picked and uniquely qualified scholars soaked in the study of world history, world religions, world classics, besides being the scholars of English literature of rare merit. Publication was facilitated by the Govt. of India from the years 1956 and onwards.
With passage of Time, it became clear that this documented chronicle needed to be mirrored as Electronic Master Copy as all-purpose data, including printing, and digital dissemination. The Gujarat Vidyapith, set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, came forward to patronize the task, in the spirit of mission and responsibility towards this invaluable heritage. Around the years 2007-8, it specially set up the CWMG Cell in its premises for the task. The actual work was entrusted to Dina Patel, thoroughly soaked in the discipline of making of these volumes. Picking up youngsters with potential for assiduous labour and technological applications, after a lot of technological explorations and innovations, with the active guidance and collaboration of the Gandhi Research Foundation, GRF-Jalgaon, the CWMG Cell has already accomplished the task for the English version with full fidelity to the original version. Now, it is working on the Sampoorna Gandhi Vangmaya - the SGV, the Hindi version corresponding to the CWMG-KS-1956-1994-Eng.
The CWMG Cell at GV is doing this with the kind patronage of the Gujarat Vidyapith, with the kind permission of the Navajivan Trust, and on behalf of the Publications Division, Ministry of I.& B., Govt. of India, New Delhi. The other natural, legal, and dedicated stake-holders in this heritage are: Sabarmati Ashram Preservation & Memorial Trust – A'bad (SAPMT); National Gandhi Museum, Rajghat, New Delhi (NGM); Gandhi Smarak Nidhi - Central Board, New Delhi (GSN); To all of whom this data will be entrusted for safe custody, conservation, preservation. It is already displayed on the Gandhi Heritage Portal – hosted and maintained by the SAPMT with the support of the MoC, GoI – for the free-of-cost view and reading for the people across the world.
The CWMG Cell at GV would like to place on record its deep gratitude to all - the authorities and the institutions cited above for authorising us to work on this marathon task; and to the innumerable co-workers who contributed to the project at different points of time to the best of their abilities.
The CWMG Cell at GV offers this work as humble obeisance to all the chroniclers of Gandhiji’s life, thought, action – those who dedicated their lives to Gandhiji during his life-time, and also those who did the same after 1948, plunging themselves fully in the vast and deep sea of his writings, spread on a civilizational canvas of more than two millennia.
