WE-ASC

S.K. Misra recently relinquished charge as Chairman of INTACH, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, which he served as Vice-Chairman from 1999-2004, and Chairman from 2004 on.  

He retired from the Government of India as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, after a distinguished career in which he served as Secretary to the Ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation, and Agriculture. His lifelong interests in education, culture and institution-building converged in his leadership of INTACH, where he strengthened the administrative and funding base and greatly expanded the scope of activities, as well as the organization’s influence both within India and globally.  A particular achievement was the organization, in 2007, of the first ever conference of international heritage trusts, which was held in Delhi, and attended by representatives from 55 countries.  At this meeting, INTO (the International National Trusts Organization) was founded, with INTACH as one of the three permanent members (along with the US and UK National Trusts).  S.K. Misra serves as Vice-Chairman of INTO.

In 2009, the President of India conferred on him the prestigious Padma Bhushan award, for distinguished service in the fields of Civil Service and Tourism.

Before coming over to the Government of India in 1980, he served in Punjab and Haryana. In Punjab, he was involved in the setting up of the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana and its counterpart in Hisar in Haryana. He also founded the Motilal Nehru School of Sports at Rai in Sonepat, which is one of the premier schools in the country.

Abstract

QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ECONOMICALLY BACKWARD

India has a large number of public schools which provide excellent educational opportunities. These however, can be availed of by children from very well to do families.  The bulk of people with low income levels cannot afford to send their children to these schools. Their children are therefore, deprived of getting good quality education which ensures all round development and therefore, are unable to compete for higher positions. Government does provide education on a large level but the schools are very poor in quality. In most cases we have absentee teachers or teachers without requisite qualifications.

In Haryana an experiment was started in 1970 to set up a school which would basically be non-elitist in character. The Motilal Nehru School of Sports at Rai in Sonepat, district in Haryana, has excellent staff carefully selected on the basis of merit and provides all the facilities that public schools in India are having. This school is wholly funded by the State Government and is an unique experiment and has proved very successful.

My talk would basically deal with how the school was set up, its basic concept, functioning and the benefits derived. It is an experiment worth emulating all over the country.