HISTORY

During the year 1942 when the freedom struggle was in full swing, Gandhiji felt the need for a common language which could serve as the lingua franca of the country and bring the people of the country together. Thus the idea of Hindustani was born and Gandhiji founded Hindustani Prachar Sabha [HPS] at Wardha on 5th May 1942 and soon after in Mumbai. At that time no one would have thought that this organization will keep going for so long and become 75 years young in the year 2017.

The aim of Hindustani Prachar Sabha is to promote Hindustani, a mix of simple Hindi and simple Urdu. Since its inception, Hindustani Prachar Sabha has been working relentlessly for the promotion of Hindustani and also simple Hindi and simple Urdu. HPS is fortunate that since the beginning it had the patronage of some of the very dedicated Gandhian social workers and eminent personalities such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Zakir Hussain, Kakasaheb Kalelkar, Balasahab Kher, Shrimann Narayan Agrawal etc. The two sisters late Perinben Captain and late Goshiben Captain who were the grand daughters of the great leader Dadabhai Naoroji virtually devoted their lives for the growth of HPS.

Another distinguished personality who played an important role in the journey of HPS was late Morarjibhai Desai who remained the president of HPS till his death. During its formative years, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru arranged for a grant of Rs.5 lakhs to construct the building of the HPS on the plot allocated by the Maharashtra Government at Charni Road, Mumbai. Till date the HPS is functioning from that five storey building which is called Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Building.

Hindustani Prachar Sabha is administered by a board of Trustees consisting of Francis Mathews, Satish Shah, Feroze Patch and Arvind Degvekar and a Managing Committee.

HISTORY AT A GLANCE

Hindustani Prachar Sabha [HPS] is on a fast track in implementing various projects for the last few years. The most unique among them is opening of libraries in the Central Prisons of the various states of the country. The aim is to open libraries in all the Central Prisons of the country. This move was very much appreciated by the prison authorities who said that Hindustani Prachar Sabha was the first NGO which came with an offer of library. The first library under this project was inaugurated on 2nd October 2016 at Yerwada Central Prison. To fulfill the dream of the great man Gandhiji, the HPS is running simple Hindi and simple Urdu teaching classes in its premises and also in numerous schools and colleges in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Every year hundreds of students take admission in these classes and study the languages enthusiastically. It also runs Hindi classes for foreigners.

Hindustani Prachar Sabha undertakes many socially and educationally relevant activities. It has twice organized All India Essay Competitions for college students with a cash prize money of more than one lakh rupees. The first prize was of Rs. 50,000/-. An all India Hindi Poetry competition for the students of non-Hindi speaking states, all India Publication award for small publications, all India Urdu Journalists Conference, various other conferences and seminars are some of the notable activities undertaken by HPS. HPS is now holding seminars, workshops, competitions in other parts of the country like Ahemdabad, Bengluru, New Delhi, Tezpur [Assam], Belgaum, Latur, Dhule, Chennai etc.

For last many years, It is organizing an elocution contest for the colleges of Mumbai and other places. HPS regularly organizes many literary activities. It has virtually become the hub of literary activities in Mumbai.

Hindustani Prachar Sabha publishes its quarterly journal Hindustani Zaban both in Hindi and Urdu but that is not all. It has also started publishing an edition of its journal for the benefit of the blind people. HPS had undertaken a unique project of preparing a dictionary of verbs ‘Kriya Kosh’ in Hindi which is the second such dictionary in the world after the one by a foreigner. The Kriya Kosh is printed by a renowned international printing company.

As the days pass by instead of getting slow, Hindustani Prachar Sabha is becoming more and more active and it has made various short term and long term plans to keep progressing.