HUBBALLI: Hubballi is one of the few cities in India which is preserving the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi. The ashes, kept at the Mahila Vidya Peetha in Vidya Nagar, were brought to the city in 1948 and has preserved at the Mahatma Gandhi Prathana Mandir of the institution.
Harshavardhan Sheelavant, an educationist from Dharwad, said, “Ardent followers of Mahatama Gandhi, Padma Shri Sardar Veerangouda Patil and his wife Nagamma Tayi Patil started Karnataka’s first and country’s second Harijan Balikashram in 1932. Gandhi had given a call to their followers to develop villages. This inspired the couple and they started Harijan Balikashram in Hubballi.”
India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who visited Hubballi in 1951, renamed Harijan Balikashram as Kasturba Balikashram. The institution runs pre-primary to degree courses, two post graduation centres, ITI, DEd courses.
At present around 1,600 students are pursuing various courses in the MVP.