Champaran satyagrah celebrations from Monday

PATNA: The state government will kick off the year-long celebrations to mark centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran satyagrah on Monday as it was on April 10, 1917 that Gandhi had set foot in the state for the first time. Chief minister Nitish Kumar will inaugurate the opening ceremony of the celebrations, which will later spread to West Champaran and East Champaran (erstwhile unified Champaran district) and Muzaffarpur, among other places.
The “magnificent” Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre on north-western flank of Gandhi Maidan will also be inaugurated on Monday.Soon after the inauguration, the two-day national conclave on centenary of Gandhi’s Champaran satyagrah will begin at Gyan Bhavan, the main conference hall of the convention centre.
The Gyan Bhavan is a two-storied structure with an exhibition hall on the ground floor with a capacity to accommodate 2,000 people, while the conference hall on the first floor can accommodate around 800 people. Around 16,500 tonnes of steel is being used in its construction, which is arguably more than the volume of steel used in raising Eifel Tower (around 10,000 metric tonnes) and Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.
More than 700 people, including Mahatma’s great grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Gandhian Razi Ahmad and Medha Patkar, will participate in the conference. Chief minister Nitish Kumar is slated to give welcome address in the inaugural session.
“Apart from the inaugural and concluding sessions, nine technical sessions would be held in the conclave. Fifty-two speakers have given their consent to participate in the conclave. We are expecting few more speakers to give their confirmation,’ said a senior official in state education department.
Located in front of Peer Ali Park, the under-construction SAICC is spread over 11.82 acres of land. The building has five components – main convention hall, Gyan Bhavan, auditorium, Sabhyata Dwar and a food court. The complex, divided in two parts, is connected with a subway.
The main convention hall is a four-storied structure with a height of 35 metres. It is proposed to be an iconic earthquake resistant building with parking space in the basement having capacity of 450 vehicles.