JAWAHARLAL DARDA

Indian freedom fighter Jawaharlal Darda was posthumously conferred a Lifetime Achievement Award at UK's House of Commons on 18 September 2013. The Award was given for his contribution during India's independence movement and its journey afterwards. 

 Shree Jawaharlal Darda was born in Babhulgon on 2 july 1923, he was freedom fighter, he started the the freedom struggle 1940 by taking part in the Individual Satyagraha Movement as per stated by Mahatma Gandhi, he led the foot march of about 400 miles. In 1942 he took part in the "Quit India Movement" for which, he was imprisoned for a period of One year and Nine month, when he was in Jabalpur jail, he arranged meet of Satyagrahis.

• He started the handwritten "Sinha Garjana" so that the knowledge of Satyagraha reches to all pepole.

• In 1944 he established the Azad Hind Sena's Yeotmal branch. In 1945, he started the "Young Man Association" with his friends.

• In 1947, he started a weekly called "Nave jag". In 1952, he restarted "Lokmat" weekly in Yeotmal. 

• He natured a special love on Yeotmal, such a glorias Yeotmalkar passed away on 25th November 1997.

Britain's Minister for Business Engagement with India Gregory Barker and Virendra Sharma, Chair of the Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group jointly presented the award to late Jawaharlal Darda's son, Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, MP and Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Lokmat, the most widely circulated Marathi language newspaper.

Jawaharlal Darda joined the country's freedom movement and became an active Congress leader and also founded the Lokmat group of newspapers in Maharashtra in 1971.

Jawaharlal Darda also served as minister in Maharashtra for several years and was founder-editor of his newspaper group, which has now grown to a state-wide chain in Marathi and English.