THE Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust has announced the generous contribution of Dr Rami Ranger to the installation of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in London’s Parliament Square.

Social and political activist Dr Ranger, company director of Sun Mark Ltd, has donated £100,000 – the largest single donation so far. This has brought the charity closer to its goal of raising £750,000.

Dr Ranger said: “The world owes Gandhi a huge debt of gratitude for liberating one fifth of mankind through non-violence, thereby creating a better world.”

Other donors are also stepping forward from around the world to contribute towards setting up the Gandhi statue.

There are pledges of large amounts due to be realised in the next month, while smaller donations continue to flow into the website with its online donation facilities.

Professor Lord (Meghnad) Desai, chairman of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, said: “This is more good news which adds to the steady flow of what has been coming in from all around the world through our website as awareness spreads.

“It is the combination of lots of small donations and a few large ones which is taking us swiftly to our final goal. But of course, we still welcome all those who would like to donate. As Gandhi said, ‘If the cause is right, the means will come’.”

The plan for the statue was proposed by the Chancellor George Osborne and Former Foreign Secretary William Hague during a visit to India in July this year.

It is hoped to be in place by early 2015, and is being paid for by the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust. Professor Lord Desai is founder of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust.

It will stand alongside other great figures such as Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln.

The sculpture by Philip Jackson, shows Gandhi wearing a shawl and traditional dhoti skirt, with his hands clasped. It is inspired by photographs of Gandhi on the steps of 10 Downing Street during a visit to London in 1931, the statue portrays him as “a thoughtful, determined, compassionate man”, according to planning documents.

It was same year Gandhi, then aged 62, travelled to Darwen to see the effects of his country’s boycott of cotton goods.

All of the unemployed mill workers greeted the man with great affection even when they were out of work.