Odyssey of the Enlightened – 40
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out the details of farmers in their village and about their tax levies. All this was made into a report and submitted to the Congress district headquarters. This way, Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant received the details of Agra district first. He expressed his surprise at how the entire information was collected so quickly. He asked that his congratulations be conveyed to the person responsible for this success.
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Martin had written this incident while describing the style of working of Shriram. He also mentioned that this news about collecting such vast information in four days reached the ears of Gandhiji also. Gandhiji had commented, ‘If there was one person like Shriram in each district, then attaining the goal of independence is possible within a month’. During Nainital conference, Gandhiji had called aside Shriram Sharma and enquired about his style of operation and examined it. Later during the meeting of volunteers Gandhiji praised Shriram and said that with such workers, no power on earth could prevent India from winning its independence. Martin had also written that Shriram was a very dedicated and active worker. Conspiracy of the administration District administration had taken this comment seriously. Also Shriram’s contribution in the
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Within four days, a report with the details of all the fields, their owners, tax amount of one hundred twenty eight villages in that region was ready. How was this done? Shriram and his companions contacted the village panchs and patwaris frequently visiting Tehsil offices. They obtained almost eighty percent of the information from them. Then, they went to some large villages and met the key people and found
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An important responsibility given Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant was overseeing the activities of Congress in the United Province in those days. He was in Nainital. They could not get the statistics about Agra region. This matter was brought up in the meeting of the group members. They did not have any option other than collecting information from village to village. Rawatji suggested that Shriram be put on this job, since he had in-depth knowledge of the area. The suggestion was welcomed by other congressmen and it was decided that Shriram would take up this job along with 3-4 other companions. Shriram was also present in the meeting and he started on the job right away. The moment the responsibility was given to him, Shriram immediately came out of the party office; his other associates identified for the job also followed suit. He went home, collected his travel bag and started the campaign.
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On the Path of Parikrama -4
“God resides most strongly and evidently where science has not yet progressed to go... And if this is true then it follows that God resides everywhere and in everything.” - Terryl L. Givens
22
Akhand Jyoti November - December 2014
