###Vidya Bhawan to Celebrate 95th Foundation Day on Tuesday, Reaffirming a Century-Old Educational Vision
Udaipur, Vidya Bhawan will celebrate its 95th Foundation Day on Tuesday (July 21) with a series of events, including a public awareness rally, the inauguration of a plant nursery and a commemorative function, as the institution reflects on nearly a century of its educational journey and the completion of 100 years of the idea that inspired its founding.
According to an article by Dr. Anil Mehta, Vidya Bhawan's origins can be traced not to the establishment of an institution but to an educational vision conceived by Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta (Bhaisaheb) in 1926 while waiting at a railway station in Europe. He envisioned an institution that would be ahead of its time—one that promoted co-education, character building, self-reliance, democratic values and social responsibility, while preparing young people to contribute to the making of an independent India.
The vision took shape in 1931, when Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta, along with Dr. K.L. Shrimali, Sadik Ali, Fatehlal Vardia and Kesari Lal Bordia, established Vidya Bhawan. Influenced by the educational philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and the Scout Movement, the founders sought to create an institution where education extended beyond academic achievement to the holistic development of individuals.
Over the decades, Vidya Bhawan has been associated with several national leaders, including former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr. Manmohan Singh, and former Presidents Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Pratibha Patil. Former President Dr. Zakir Husain and freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayan also visited the institution and interacted with students and teachers. Sarala Ben (Mary Catherine Heilman), who taught at Vidya Bhawan, later became one of Mahatma Gandhi's close associates.
The institution has produced several distinguished personalities. Former Vidya Bhawan headmaster Dr. Kalu Lal Shrimali later served as India's Union Education Minister, while former Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic Principal Vasudev Devnani became Rajasthan's Education Minister and is currently the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. Its alumni include Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, former Minister Beena Kak, former Foreign Secretaries Jagat Mehta and J.N. Dixit, eminent scientists D.S. Kothari and Govardhan Mehta, industrialist Arvind Singhal and Justice Govind Mathur.
Dr. Mehta notes that although the institution has expanded into teacher education, higher and technical education, agricultural sciences, educational research, rural development and environmental conservation, its founding philosophy has remained unchanged. Vidya Bhawan has consistently advocated learning beyond classroom walls, treating sports fields, workshops, laboratories, farms, villages and communities as spaces for education. It introduced co-education, experiential learning, positive discipline and community participation long before these concepts gained wider acceptance in Indian education.
Today, Vidya Bhawan functions as a comprehensive educational and social development network. Its initiatives range from school, higher and technical education to teacher training, skill development, agricultural extension, environmental conservation and educational research.
The institution has also linked education with community development through projects such as the Marvi Project on groundwater recharge and community water management, integrated water resource management in the Ayd Basin, and sanitation research. It collaborates with leading institutions, including the University of Leeds, University of Copenhagen, University of Sydney and Azim Premji University, while programmes such as Shiksha Sambal, Apna Sapna and Oonchi Udaan have strengthened foundational learning and enabled students to pursue higher education in premier engineering and medical institutions.
Vidya Bhawan has also made significant contributions in scientific farming, farmer support and livestock health. In sports, it has produced national and international archers and chess players, with a proposed sports academy expected to further strengthen its sporting infrastructure.
Dr. Mehta observes that many principles long practised by Vidya Bhawan—including experiential learning, multidisciplinary education, student-centred pedagogy, skill development and social responsibility—are reflected in India's National Education Policy. As the world confronts challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, artificial intelligence, automation and changing employment patterns, he says the institution continues to pursue an educational model that combines technology with ethics, global perspectives with local understanding and innovation with environmental responsibility.
Foundation Day programme
The Foundation Day celebrations will commence at 7 a.m. with a public awareness rally, which will be flagged off by Udaipur District Collector Gaurav Agrawal from the nursery gate of Vidya Bhawan School. The rally will proceed to Fateh Sagar Lake before returning to the campus.
The main Foundation Day function will be held at 9.15 a.m. at the Open Air Theatre of Vidya Bhawan Public School, Fatehpura.
P. Ramesh, Managing Director of Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited (RSMML), Udaipur, will be the chief guest. Vidya Bandhu Chandra Singh K. Mehta will preside over the function.
The event will also be attended by Dr. Jitendra Kumar Tayalia, President of the Vidya Bhawan Society; Inder Pal Singh Matharu, retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and Chairman of the Expert Appraisal Committee (Coal and Thermal Power) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Rajendra Bhatt, former Divisional Commissioner and Chief Executive of Vidya Bhawan, as distinguished guests.
At 11.15 a.m., the newly established plant nursery will be inaugurated by Mr. Matharu, Dr. Tayalia, Vidya Bhawan Vice-President Bhagwat Babel, and Mr. Bhatt.
The celebrations will reaffirm Vidya Bhawan's enduring commitment to education, environmental stewardship, civic responsibility and holistic development as it prepares to complete 100 years of its establishment in 2031, while marking the centenary of the educational idea that gave birth to the institution.
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