President Ram Nath Kovind will today preside over the first meeting of the national committee set up for commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi next year. Chief Ministers of different states, leaders of various political parties, Gandhians, spiritual leaders and social workers are among those who are expected to attend the meeting.

The 114-member committee, comprising Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Ministers and Chief Justice of India, will discuss the policies, plans and preparatory activities for commemoration of the birth anniversary. The birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation will be commemorated from 2nd October, 2019 to 2nd October, 2020.

Many events will be organised at both national and international level to propagate the message of the Mahatma. In his budget proposals this year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earmarked 150 crore rupees for the celebrations.