Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has planned a celebration to mark the 100th year of Prabodhan, a periodical no longer in publication, but one that was started by the chief minister’s grandfather, Keshav Thackeray, using the state’s coffers.
As part of the celebration, the Maharashtra government plans to spend Rs 27 lakh — Rs 12 lakh to publish an anthology of articles by eminent writers who were published in Prabodhan and Rs 15 lakh on producing a film on the life and times of Keshav Sitaram Thackeray.
The Maharashtra government’s Marathi language department, headed by Shiv Sena’s Subhash Desai, a member of the state’s legislative council, issued the formal order on 3 August.
Born in 1885, Keshav Thackeray was a writer and social reformer, and one of the key leaders of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, which campaigned for the linguistic state of Maharashtra. He started the fortnightly periodical Prabodhan, meaning ‘Enlightenment,’ on 16 October 1920. Keshav Thackeray started being known as ‘Prabodhankar,’ because of the periodical.
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“No conflict of interest”
Bhushan Gagrani, principal secretary of the Marathi language department, told ThePrint that the spending on celebrating a publication started by the chief minister’s grandfather does not amount to any conflict of interest in this case.
“Prabodhankar Thackeray had his own standing in society. His name is counted among one of Maharashtra’s greatest social reformers, in the same thread as Mahatma Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar. It just happens to be the case that his grandson is the CM of the state when Prabodhan, the periodical he started, is celebrating its 100th year,” said Gagrani.
An official from the department who did not wish to be named said that “many persons have made important contributions to Maharashtra’s social, cultural, literary, political, educational, creative and other sectors. There have also been many ideologues who have made exemplary contributions to progressive Maharashtra’s ideological development”.
The Maharashtra government has been “routinely celebrating” the centenary birth anniversaries of such eminent persons, he said, adding that the state government was, in a similar fashion, celebrating Prabodhan‘s centenary year.
A book, a film part of the works
The Marathi language department had made elaborate plans of celebrating Prabodhan’s centenary year with elocution competitions and workshops, but the celebration was scaled down to just a book and a short film because of the Covid pandemic, Gagrani said.
The Maharashtra State Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal, an autonomous publishing house supported by the state government, will publish a compilation of articles published in Prabodhan on various subjects.
The Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) will also publish a special edition of Lokrajya, the state government’s magazine, on the occasion of Prabodhan’s 100th year. Its theme is ‘Maharashtra’s Ideological Wealth: Prabodhan.’
The film on Keshav Thackeray will also be based on the same theme.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has also named a bunch of schemes and projects after Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena founder and the chief minister’s father. Earlier this year, the state government included the names of Bal Thackeray and Keshav Thackeray in its list of eminent personalities whose birth anniversaries will henceforth be celebrated by the state government.
(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)
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