Premchand?s birth place is in state of neglect

LAMENTING the pathetic condition of the birthplace of Munshi Premchand, his grandson Atul Rai said that though the Ministry of Culture was organising a series of lectures, seminars under the year-long 125th anniversary celebration of Munshi Premchand, no concrete steps had been taken by the government to develop Lamhi, the birth place of Premchand.

Published on: May 20, 2006, 24:12:00 IST

None | By HT Correspondent, Gorakhpur

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LAMENTING the pathetic condition of the birthplace of Munshi Premchand, his grandson Atul Rai said that though the Ministry of Culture was organising a series of lectures, seminars under the year-long 125th anniversary celebration of Munshi Premchand, no concrete steps had been taken by the government to develop Lamhi, the birth place of Premchand.

Rai was here to participate in a two-day seminar at Gorakhpur Journalists’ Association Hall on ‘Premchand and Freedom Movement’. Talking to mediapersons, Rai said that while launching the year-long programme on July 31 last year to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Premchand, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav sanctioned Rs 4 crore for various schemes for Lamhi village, but so far the native place of Munshi Premchand remained neglected.

Rai said that in 1956, on request of then President of India Rajendra Prasad, the family members of Premchand had donated a portion of his native place for Nagri Parchari Sabha to develop it into a research centre. It was planned that a statue of Premchand would be installed there but the Sabha did not take any initiative.

Rai said that Premchand might have become a victim of the political tussle between the Congress and the SP.

Responding to a question, Rai said that since the year-long programme was about to end, the issue would again be sidelined. He said that the State government had promised that the parental house of Premchand would be declared a cultural heritage.

Rai said that State Government and the Banaras Hindu University administration had not taken any initiative in development of Lamhi. Rai said that whenever any tourist came to the parental house of Munshi Premchand, he felt ashamed to tell him that the government had not developed the birth place of this great story-writer.

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