#### Celebrating 94 Glorious Years of Vidya Bhawan: Marching Towards a Better Udaipur

Udaipur, Founded in 1931 by the visionary Padma Vibhushan Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta, Vidya Bhawan is stepping into its 95th year this Monday, 21 July, continuing its remarkable journey of social transformation through education.

To mark this occasion, a public awareness rally with the theme "Clean, Educated, Prosperous, and Self-Reliant Udaipur" will be organized. The District Collector, Namit Mehta, will flag off the rally from the Vidya Bhawan school campus at 7:30 AM. The rally will proceed to Fatehsagar Overflow and return to the campus.

Dr. Jitendra Kumar Tayalia, President of Vidya Bhawan, and Former IAS Officer Rajendra Bhatt, Director, shared that a grand ceremony will be held at the school's open-air stage. The Chief Guest will be Nakhate Shivprasad Madan, Excise Commissioner, and the event will be chaired by Jagdish Prasad Acharya, a 1970 alumnus of Vidya Bhawan and former General Manager at Bharat Electronics Limited. Industrialist Narendra Maru will join as Special Guest.

Dr. Tayalia and Mr. Bhatt proudly recalled how the institution has been inspired by the presence and blessings of national icons like Pandit Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr. Manmohan Singh, and Pratibha Patil. Notable figures such as Dr. Zakir Hussain and Jayaprakash Narayan have interacted with students and teachers here. Sarla Ben (Mary Katherine Heilman), a key aide of Mahatma Gandhi, was among its early educators.

Vidya Bhawan alumni and teachers have made significant contributions across diverse fields—administration, politics, industry, science, law, education, and the arts. Prominent alumni include Gulab Chand Kataria (Governor), Bina Kak (Former Minister), Jagat Mehta and JN Dixit (Foreign Secretaries), Scientists DS Kothari and Goverdhan Mehta, Industrialists Salil and Arvind Singhal, and Former Chief Justice Govind Mathur. Kalu Lal Shrimali, once Headmaster and Chairman, went on to become India’s Education Minister. Vasudev Devnani, former Polytechnic Principal, later served as Education Minister and is now Rajasthan's Assembly Speaker.

From a single school, Vidya Bhawan has expanded into a comprehensive educational ecosystem that includes schools, colleges, teacher training centers, technical institutes, an agriculture science center, and an educational resource center. Its multi-faceted work has earned it recognition at community, national, and global levels.

The lines engraved on its campus wall in 1970 — “India has conquered the Moon, when will it conquer the Sun?” — have found relevance today with the Aditya mission. Vidya Bhawan’s educational philosophy and experimental models have found resonance in India’s New Education Policy. Its contributions in water management, sanitation, and the MARVI project for groundwater recharge have influenced national policies.

Vidya Bhawan collaborates with international institutions like the University of Leeds, Copenhagen University, Sydney University, and Azim Premji University on significant research initiatives. Several Indian states have sought Vidya Bhawan's assistance in developing school textbooks.

Its Abhilasha Program provides free coding training to 80 underprivileged rural girls. Through the Hindustan Zinc Educational Support Program, Vidya Bhawan is strengthening basic science and math understanding in government schools across Rajasthan. Programs like Apna Sapna, Unchi Udaan, and School Integrated Programs are helping students gain admission into top-tier institutions like IITs and medical colleges. It also trains athletes who compete nationally and internationally in archery and chess. In agriculture and veterinary innovation, its work is appreciated across India.

Dr. Tayalia and Mr. Bhatt expressed that with only six years remaining until Vidya Bhawan completes a century of service, the journey ahead promises greater milestones for Udaipur, Rajasthan, and the nation.

Historical Background:

The idea of Vidya Bhawan was born in 1926 in a European train station waiting room. Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta, fondly known as Bhaisaheb, envisioned a progressive educational institution that would nurture character, self-reliance, democratic values, emotional and mental strength, and civic consciousness among Indian youth—preparing them to play an active role in nation-building post-independence.

In 1931, this vision materialized into Vidya Bhawan, co-founded by Dr. K.L. Shrimali, Sadique Ali, Fatehlal Vardiya, and Kesari Lal Bordia, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and the Scout Movement.

Over the decades, Vidya Bhawan expanded its footprint to fulfill evolving educational needs:

1931: Vidya Bhawan Senior Secondary School

1940s: Handicraft Teacher Training Centre (training in carpentry, weaving, shoemaking, etc.)

1941: Basic School in Ramgiri village

1942: Rajasthan’s first Teacher Training College

1956: Vidya Bhawan Rural Institute and Polytechnic for rural development & sanitation engineering

1982: Anganwadi worker training programs

1984: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Agriculture Science Centre)

1995: Educational Resource Centre

1997: Institute for Local Governance & Citizenship

2001: Vidya Bhawan Public School

2008: Gandhian Institute of Educational Studies

2009: Prakriti Sadhana Kendra (a 400-acre eco-forest initiative)

Today, Vidya Bhawan operates 10 active institutions under the umbrella of the Vidya Bhawan Society, steadfast in its mission to bring educational change for societal transformation.