Radheshyam Khemka passed away in April last year. He was the chairperson of the iconic Gita Press Trust and edited its monthly Kalyan magazine for four decades.
The chairperson of the iconic Gita Press Trust Gorakhpur, Radheshyam Khemka, was conferred with Padma Vibhushan on Tuesday (January 25). He had passed away in April last year when he was 86.
Khemka edited Kalyan, an iconic magazine of the Gita Press Trust, Gorakhpur, for 38 years.
For the first time, he edited this magazine in November/December 1982 for the first time and was continuously editing the magazine since March 1983.
Although he was unwell for the past few days, he had edited the April 2021 issue of the magazine, just before he breathed his last.
The magazine has been published continuously since 1926. It’s a publication of Gita Press Gorakhpur, focusing on spirituality. Hanuman Prasad Poddar found Gita Press Gorakhpur in 1923 to serve humanity through the publication of Sanatan religious texts.
Born on December 12, 1935, in Bihar’s Munger, Radheshyam Khemka came to Varanasi early for studies at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He lived what he preached and actively participated in cow protection programmes to ensure cows in the area were not harmed from early childhood.
He was simultaneously involved in multiple other social projects when he was leading Gita Press Gorakhpur and was associated with Marwari Seva Sangh, Mumukshu Bhava, Sri Ram Lakshmi Marwari Hospital, etc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condoled the death of Khemka. PM Modi had said “गीता प्रेस के अध्यक्ष और सनातन साहित्य को जन-जन तक पहुंचाने वाले राधेश्याम खेमका जी के निधन से अत्यंत दुख हुआ है। खेमका जी जीवनपर्यंत विभिन्न सामाजिक कार्यों में सक्रिय रहे। शोक की इस घड़ी में मेरी संवेदनाएं उनके परिजनों और प्रशंसकों के साथ हैं। ओम शांति!" (Extremely sad to know about the passing away of Gita Press President Shri Radheshyam Khemka ji. He worked to make available the Sanatan literature to the common masses. He was involved in different social works all his life. My deep condolences to his family and admirers.)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also condoled the death of Khemka.
In its 98 years of existence, Gita Press Gorakhpur has printed more than 72 crore books in 15 languages. Before his passing away, Khemka was intimately involved in preparations for the centenary celebrations of Gita Press Gorakhpur.
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