Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Member of Parliament (RS) stated that Birth Centenary celebration of late Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya.  He stated that birth centenary celebrating of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia should be scaled up and a suitable committee constituted by the Govt. to organize and conduct the celebrations.  He stated that since the great leader was born on 23th March 1910, therefore a grand function at the culmination of the century celebration should be held on 23.3.2011 at Talktora Stadium or Vijya Bhawan.  Similar celebrations were earlier held for the birth centenary of Late Jai Prakash Narain & Acharya Narendra Dev.  In this connection former Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Ravi Raj and Shri Surendra Mohan have already written to the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

Dr Lohia was not only a great Socialist leader but also a great freedom fighter and a Congress leader under the leadership of Gandhi ji. He took part in August Kranti of 1942 and was one of the heros along with Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asif Ali and Usha Mehta.  Dr. Lohia was one of the tallest socialist leader of the country.  It was he who gave the call for the empowerment of the backward sections of the society and gave the slogan “Backward should get sixty of the hundred”.  He launched agitation for the liberation of Goa from Portugese rule.  Today Goa  is a part of our country  and for that a large credit goes to late Dr. Lohia.

Mr. Paswan demanded the Govt. should constitute a high level committee to organize and conduct the Birth centenary of the great socialist leader.

He further demanded that a commemorative postal stamp in memory of Dr Lohia on his birth centenary should be released and A statue of Dr Lohia be installed at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi.

A road in Lutyen Zone in New Delhi should be named as Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Marg (Dalhousie Road near Rashtrapati Bhawan-South Avenue would be ideal  Lok Sabha Speaker should also be ask to release a Monograph of Dr Lohia on this occasion.

(Abdul Khaliq)