Chandigarh, Oct 2 : The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, which is now the International Day of Non-violence, was celebrated in this union territory and in neighbouring Haryana Friday.

In what could be one of its kind initiative, around 50 inmates of a model jail here were enrolled in a unique course called 'Gandhi Peace' Friday. This one-month course is designed jointly by local NGO Yuvsatta, Chandigarh prisons department and the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal.

"This programme is existing in almost all jails of Maharashtra. Last year around 200 prisoners enrolled in this course and this year, we have got 50 new students," Pramod Sharma, coordinator of Yuvsatta, told IANS here Friday.

A special lecture, highlighting the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, was organised at Gandhian Studies department at Panjab University here and was open for public.

There were functions organised by few institutions but most of them remained low-key affair sans public participation.

Functions were organised at block and district Congress headquarters in various towns in Haryana. A function was held at the Haryana Raj Bhawan here to mark the 140th birth anniversary of the father of our nation.

"The party workers were apprised about the vision of Mahatma Gandhi by organising seminars on his thoughts and principles. We should try to solve the problems of communalism, terrorism and religious bigotry by following the path of Gandhi," said Phool Chand Mullana, president of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC). (IANS)