Harijan Sevak Sangh is a non-profit organisation founded by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

in 1932 to eradicate

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

in India, working for

Harijan Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

or Dalit people and upliftment of Depressed Class of India. It is headquartered at

Kingsway Camp Kingsway Camp, officially Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar (GTB Nagar) since 1970, is a historic area located in North West Delhi, near Civil Lines and Delhi University. It starts from Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar (GTB) intersection, and has residential areas ...

in Delhi, with branches in 26 states across India.

History

After the Second Round Table Conference,

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

agreed to give

Communal Award The Communal Award was created by the British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald on 16 August 1932. Also known as the MacDonald Award, it was announced after the Round Table Conference (1930–32) and extended the separate electorate to depressed Cl ...

to the depressed classes on the request of

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

. Gandhi opposed the government's decision which he considered it would divide the Hindu society and subsequently went on to the indefinite fast in

Yerwada Jail Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security prison in Yerwada, Pune in Maharashtra. This is the largest prison in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 5,000 prisoners (2017) spread over va ...

. He ended his fast after signed

Poona Pact The Poona Pact was an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on behalf of Dalits, depressed classes, and upper caste Hindu leaders on the reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the legislature of British ...

with Ambedkar on 24 September 1932. On 30 September, Gandhi founded ''All India Anti Untouchability League'', to remove untouchability in the society, which later renamed as Harijan Sevak Sangh ("Servants of Harijan Society"). At the time industrialist

Ghanshyam Das Birla Ghanshyam Das Birla (10 April 1894 – 11 June 1983) was an Indian businessman and member of the Birla Family. Birla family history Ghanshyam Das Birla was born on 10 April 1894 at Pilani town in Jhunjhunu district, in the region known as R ...

was its founding president with Amritlal Takkar as its secretary. Harijan Sevak Sangh runs two schools in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, a residential middle school in

Villupuram district Viluppuram, Villupuram or Vizhuppuram is one of the 38 districts that make up the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded on 30 September 1993, prior to which it was part of the Cuddalore district. Vizhuppuram district lies in the way of the ...

and N M R Subbaraman memorial residential primary school in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

. The school in Villupuram was set up in 1993 and currently has 180 scheduled caste and 109 other backward classes students. The students mostly belong to migrant labourers. The school has got 9 teaching and non-teaching staff. The

's school was built in 1979. It presently has 5 teaching and non-teaching faculty members.

Headquarters

The Sangh is headquartered at

in Delhi. It was ''Valmiki Bhawan'' within the campus, which functioned as Gandhiji's one-room ashram,

Kasturba Gandhi Kasturbai Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist. She married Mohandas Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1883. With her husband and her eldest so ...

and their children stayed at the nearby ''Kasturba Kutir'', between April 1946 and June 1947, before he moved to

Birla House Birla may refer to: * Birla family * Members of the Birla family: ** Aditya Vikram Birla ** Ananya Birla ** Basant Kumar Birla ** G. D. Birla ** K. K. Birla ** C. K. Birla ** Kumar Mangalam Birla See also * Burla (disambiguation) Burla may refer ...

. Today, the 20-acre campus includes the Gandhi ashram, Harijan Basti, Lala Hans Raj Gupta Industrial Training Institute and also has a residential school for boys and girls. Its headquarter Gandhi Ashram,

is listed as Gandhian Heritage Site by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India
Gandhian Heritage Sites , Ministry of Culture, Government of India

Activities

The Sangh helped the depressed classes to access public places such as temples, schools, roads and water resources, also conducted inter dining and

inter caste marriage Due to longstanding cultural norms, inter-caste marriages in India remains a rare occurrence, but in the modern era has been permissible in certain sections of Indian society due to modernisation and urbanisation. According to the 2011 census, o ...

s. It constructed and maintains several schools and hostels across the country. In 1939, Harijan Sevak Sangh of Tamil Nadu headed by

A. Vaidyanatha Iyer A. Vaidyanatha Iyer (16 May 1890 – 23 February 1955), also known as Madurai Vaidyanatha Iyer or Ayyar was an Indian activist, politician and freedom-fighter who spearheaded the temple entry movement in Madras Presidency in 1939. Early lif ...

entered the

Meenakshi Amman Temple Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundaraswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, ...

, with members of depressed class including P. Kakkan despite opposition from the upper

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

Hindus. The Sangh led by Iyer organised several temple entry movements in other Parts of Tamil Nadu and in

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

. Through their movements, more than 100 temples were opened to all sections of the society.

Bibliography

References

External links

Harijan Sevak Sangh, website
{{authority control Anti-caste movements Dalit Mahatma Gandhi Non-profit organisations based in India Organizations established in 1932 Organisations based in Delhi 1932 establishments in India