Page 50 - Gujar Mal Modi

and showed him the different parts of the machinery. When the reverie broke

Gujarmal found himself lying on his cosy bed. He was overjoyed as the dream
sequence had set his mind at rest. He sketched a blue-print. A wooden model of

the dehydrating machines was prepared on the basis of the rough sketch pro-
vided by Mr. Modi which was later on improved and incorporated into prototype

machines which were further improved for the factory. Thus on 28th May 1941
was born the Modi Food Products, based entirely on the ideas provided by the

enterprising young industrialist.

On 18th Decembcr I 941, this factory was separated from the sugar factory and
converted into a public limited company. Sometime later a new company, Modi

Supplies Corporation Ltd. was set up to process dry fruits into cakes and tablets
for the use of the armed forces. The dehydrating plant of the Mod is was the first

of its kind in the country. The dehydration process was patented by Mr. Modi and
dedicated to the Government of India.

Meanwhile, Mr. Modi continued to expand facilities for his workers. They were
given canteen facilities at Modinagar and a school was opened for the benefit

of their children. In 1942, Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Leader of the National Move-
ment, visited the School and a purse was presented to him. Mr. Nehru is reported

to have quipped: “Is it meant to stop me from inciting your workers?” Pat came
the reply from Mr. Modi, “If an outsider can exercise so much influence on my

workers, one can imagine how much influence I have over them.” Mr. Nehru was
pleased and he praised the sense of goodwill shown by Mr. Modi towards his

workers.

The title of Rai Bahadur was conferred on Gujarmal Modi at a formal investiture
ceremony held at the Government House, Lucknow, on 28th November 1942.

His Excellency Sir Maurice Hallet, the Governor of the then United Provinces, read
out the citation that Mr. Modi had “not only rendered a valu-able contribution to

supply” but had also shown himself as “a generous helper of all good causes” and
had “considerably contributed in the furtherance of the War Effort.”

The same year Mr. Modi established a girl’s school for the benefit of children of
the workers employed at Modinagar.

All these years he had not been oblivious of Mahendra Garh, his birth-place. He

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