The original edition of The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi a 100-volume collection is now being reprinted at Ahmedabad for the second time ever. The print order comes after tender notices were floated by the UPA government on May 17,a day after it was voted back to power. In the basement of the main library in Gujarat Vidyapith,a team of about six women sit in front of the computer,displaying scanned pages from the original edition known as the KS Edition,after its third and final editor K Swaminathan and clean them up,painstakingly removing blemishes,ink and printing blots (sometimes even tea and coffee spills) and making sure each letter is legible. Rajendra Khimani,the registrar of Gujarat Vidyapith said: No library in the country possesses the complete collection of the edition. The Government of India published the original edition between 1960 and 1994,of which 95 volumes were printed at the Navjivan Press under the direct supervision of the editors. It was the result of 40 years of work. In 1997,the Government of India decided to produce a multimedia edition of the collection,including photographs and a short film on Gandhi. In 2000,a compact disc was also released. But the production and sale of the CD was stopped following protests from scholars and Gandhians across the world,contending there were a number of omissions. The university is now working in tandem with the Centre,the government supplying the original volumes it has,with the institute providing the others. Six volumes have already been printed at the Niyati Press in Ahmedabad,and the remaining volumes will be printed after the scanned versions have been cleaned of blemishes. Khimani said: The significance of the collection being reprinted in Ahmedabad is that it would ensure the accuracy and quality of the production. How the volume was prepared and printed first Soon after Gandhis assassination,then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had set-up the Office of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Three editors two of who were associates of Gandhi headed the office. The office through the Harijan Ashram and Gandhi Nidhi worked to collect all of Gandhis correspondences,scattered all over the world and in the possession of former officials of the erstwhile British Empire,and after their deaths,by their families. The Government of India even bought some documents from auctions abroad. Ninety volumes were initially published,and documents that were recovered after the death or retirement of K Swaminathan and deputy editor C N Patel were published in seven subsequent volumes and two indexes in 1994. The 100th volume is a collection of all the prefaces of the previous volumes. The office was closed in 1994 after the work was completed,and the original edition went out of print.
