A signature campaign, which began in a classroom in Bengaluru and spread to Mysuru, has resulted in Lamhi, a sleepy village in Uttar Pradesh, becoming a beautiful tourist spot with a research centre, a library and the renovated house of a great Hindi litterateur which has been converted into a museum.





Lamhi is a village in Varanasi district where the renowned Hindi litterateur Munshi Premchand, popularly known as ‘Upanyas Samrat’ (Emperor of Novels), was born. Premchand’s house remained neglected and remained in a dilapidated state and the whole village begged for attention.



Dr Vinay Kumar Yadav, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Hindi at Bishop Cotton College, who was instrumental in the project, recalled that the movement started ten years ago.



“There was a Hindi lesson in the Second Pre-University, ‘Lamhi – Munshi Premchand Ka Gaon’ (Lamhi, the village of Munshi Premchand). The author of the write-up Dr Chandrika Prasad drew a parallel between the condition of the villages and houses where Shakespeare and Munshi Premchand were born.”



The Hindi teacher said, “Chandrika Prasad portrayed the neglect Munshi Premchand’s belongings were subjected to, whereas Britons neatly preserved the house and all those, the Bard of Avon was associated with. Deeply hurt after reading the lesson, the Bishop Cotton students took upon themselves the task to revive the village and the house where Premchand lived.” A signature campaign in Bengaluru comprising one lakh students, devotees of Indian literature and some nationalists prepared ground for a formal petition to the Uttar Pradesh government. Following a representation, the then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav immediately consented to the project and announced allocating Rs 1.5 crore and 2.5 acres of land for this purpose.



“There was a lull for five years, after which the work picked up pace once again when Akhilesh Yadav became the Chief Minister of the State,” said Dr Yadav.



In 2013, Dr Yadav met Akhilesh Yadav during the latter’s Mysuru and Bengaluru visits where a representation was made to act upon the promises made by his father and the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to redevelop Lamhi and the house where Premchand was born.



The work restarted in December 2014 and now has reached completion, said the Hindi Assistant Professor. The house where Munshi Premchand lived and the school where the litterateur studied have finally received a facelift.



