Gandhi’s Imprint: A plaque at Chinhat Hospital commemorates Mahatma Gandhi’s 1929 visit, offering a rare physical reminder of his work to promote education, healthcare and self-reliance in Lucknow
Municipal authorities are also said to have leased a 640 sq ft plot to the school in 1924, helping it continue its educational activities for decades. Gandhi addressed a gathering at the Chinhat school on Feb 27, 1921, according to Rekha Trivedi’s Gandhi Speaks on Non-Co-operation in UP.
“Schools and colleges in Lucknow were not merely institutions for education; they also became centres of the struggle for swaraj and played an important role in the freedom movement,” said Manish Hindvi, associate professor at Vidyant PG College and a researcher on Gandhian economics. “From Chutki Bhandar and Lucknow University to National College, educational institutions not only witnessed but also contributed to Bapu’s calls for swaraj, national education and resistance against British rule,” he said. Historical records show that two classrooms were later constructed on the premises. Chutki Bhandar was not the only educational institution linked to Gandhi’s campaign for national education in Lucknow. A National School at Chinhat also emerged during the Non-Cooperation Movement and reflected Gandhi’s efforts to create alternatives to British-run educational institutions. He spoke about non-cooperation and the need for education rooted in non-violence and national values. Rather than compelling students to leave govt institutions, Gandhi emphasised persuasion and awareness, believing that students and their families should understand the purpose behind such decisions.
The initiative generated Rs 64 and four annas, which were used to establish a girls’ school. The school, however, faced difficulties and closed in 1924. When Gandhi visited Lucknow again in 1925, he was informed about its closure.
Chutki Bhandar Girls’ Inter College in Hussainganj, established through public contributions during the freedom struggle, was declared unsafe and shut down in May this year. Its closure marks the end of a remarkable chapter in Lucknow’s educational and nationalist history, closely linked to Gandhi’s vision of education as a tool for social transformation and national awakening.