Gandhian activists meet in Agra for Sarvodaya Convention

Several Gandhian activists deliberated on the relevance of Sarvodaya (Progress of all) and Gandhian model of development in addressing issues being faced by the country during a national convention held here.
The three-day National Sarvodaya Convention began here last evening with a call by speakers for the adoption of Gandhian methods for the establishment of world peace and a crime, corruption and unemployment free India.
Speaking at the convention in which Sarvodaya workers from across the country are taking part, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan of the Centre for Peace and Spiritually said, "Only non-violence could bring good, as all the religions of the world preached the importance of ahimsa."

"Non-violence has more power than violence because of which those who were spreading terrorism in Kashmir were getting less public support now," he said.
"Gandhiji had the ability to convert negative power into a positive force," he said.
Eminent Gandhian Dr S N Subba Rao, the chief organiser of the convention, said only through the development of individual and character, violence, corruption and unemployment can be rooted out of India.

Dr Sudarshan Ayyangar, Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth, said the Union Ministry of Culture had allocated Rs 55 crore for the Gandhi Heritage Mission, which the ministry had set up for conservation of all places in India that Ghandhi visited.

Former robber Netrapal, who had surrendered in 1976 and served a 10-year sentence, took a dig at the government for failing to provide protection to women, saying that even dacoits were better since they do not commit crimes against women.
'Sarvodaya' (universal uplift or progress of all) was first coined by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin's tract on political economy.