Pune: Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat and SM Joshi Socialist Foundation Celebrate ‘Savitri Utsav’
Pune, January 2, 2021: Over 150 young children of waste pickers participated in ‘Savitri Utsav’ held at SM Joshi Socialist Foundation under the aegis of Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP) and SM Joshi Socialist Foundation. The programme was conceived to celebrate the significant contribution made by Savitribai Phule towards the education of women.
‘Savitri Vadate’ a collection of Savitribai’s poems and writings compiled by Reshma Khade, Pranita Ware and Sanjay Rendalkar, published by Rashtriya Seva Dal, Ichlalkaranji was released at the event. Sheela Adhav along with Subhash Ware and Surekha Gade presided over the event. Speaking on the occasion, Adhav said, “this book is important because it brings together both the information about Savitribai as well as her writings. Someone needs to take the initiative to make such books accessible to all, and I thank the compilers and the editors for doing so.”
Expressing their gratitude towards the pathbreaking efforts made by Savitribai, some of the youth spoke at the event. Priyanka Naiknavre said, “I study computer science at MIT, and while I had made up my mind about this when I was in Std VI, there were a lot of problems that I had to overcome, being a slum-dweller, who cannot speak fluently in English like all my classmates. Only after the first semester when I got a first-class did my colleagues acknowledge my presence.”
Gauri Waghmare, working with KKPKP mobilising waste pickers said, “It is because of Savitribai that we can study now. How can we not remember and celebrate her birthday as the first festival of the year? You taught us to fight and struggle and we continue to draw inspiration from you.”
Many of the children and youth expressed their views on Savitribai and her contribution in the form of creative Rangolis, poems, speeches and writings.
