About Us
With the awakening of national consciousness in the early years of the last
century, a few notable efforts were made in British India to improve the
system of education prevalent in India during that time. Gujarat
Vidyapeeth, started by Mahatma Gandhi, aimed at preparing youth to serve
and uplift the rural masses; Shantiniketan tried to bring the cultures
of the East and West into Universal harmony; Jamia Milia tried to
educate the Muslims in keeping with the needs of the main Stream of
National life; and the Gurukul Kangdi aimed at preserving the cultural
heritage of the nation keeping with the requirements of the modern age.
Inspired by the same spirit, Pandit Janardan Rai Nagar established the
'Rajasthan Vidyapeeth' in 1937 to uplift the down-trodden common man in
the feudal state of Mewar. Started as a night Study Centre for the
Elementary, secondary and Advanced Courses in our national language
Hindi, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth has grown into a large complex of more than
50 institutions spread over several districts of Rajasthan.
Historically, Rajasthan has been a
txtblackdise for knowledge seekers, as it has a rich and Royal cultural
heritage in the form of manuscripts, historic documents, icons,
epigraphs and monuments. Late Manishi Pandit Janardan Rai Nagar's
initiative and vision led him to start the Prachin Sahitya Shodh
Sansthan in 1941 to preserve, edit, translate and publish old
manuscripts. Probably, it was a unique Institute of its kind in
Rajasthan, which was established for the conservation of cultural
heritage.
After the historic event of the
unification of Rajasthan, 'Hindi Vidyapeeth' added new dimensions to its
basic objectives. It became a leading Non-Government Organisation
during the course of its journey and the founder Pandit Janardan Rai
Nagar renamed it as Rajasthan Vidyapeeth.
With the awakening of national
consciousness in the early years of the last century, a few notable
efforts were made in British India to improve the system of education
prevalent in India during that time. Gujarat Vidyapeeth, started by
Mahatma Gandhi, aimed at preparing youth to serve and uplift the rural
masses; Shantiniketan tried to bring the cultures of the East and West
into Universal harmony; Jamia Milia tried to educate the Muslims in
keeping with the needs of the main Stream of National life; and the
Gurukul Kangdi aimed at preserving the cultural heritage of the nation
keeping with the requirements of the modern age. Inspired by the same
spirit, Pandit Janardan Rai Nagar established the 'Rajasthan Vidyapeeth'
in 1937 to uplift the down-trodden common man in the feudal state of
Mewar. Started as a night Study Centre for the Elementary, secondary and
Advanced Courses in our national language Hindi, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth
has grown into a large complex of more than 50 institutions spread over
several districts of Rajasthan. |
Historically, Rajasthan has been a
txtblackdise for knowledge seekers, as it has a rich and Royal cultural
heritage in the form of manuscripts, historic documents, icons,
epigraphs and monuments. Late Manishi Pandit Janardan Rai Nagar's
initiative and vision led him to start the Prachin Sahitya Shodh
Sansthan in 1941 to preserve, edit, translate and publish old
manuscripts. Probably, it was a unique Institute of its kind in
Rajasthan, which was established for the conservation of cultural
heritage.
After the historic event of the
unification of Rajasthan, 'Hindi Vidyapeeth' added new dimensions to its
basic objectives. It became a leading Non-Government Organisation
during the course of its journey and the founder Pandit Janardan Rai
Nagar renamed it as Rajasthan Vidyapeeth.
Early sixties proved to be the
landmark in the history of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth when it decided to meet
the challenges, which started springing up after independence. The first
Prime Minister had deep faith in democracy and he decided to spread the
message of sharing responsibilities at the grass-root level. As a
result the Panchayati Raj institutions came into existence. Rajasthan
Vidyapeeth also decided to join hands with the GOI to share this
responsibility and established Community Centres Department and Janata
College during the Second Five-Year plan. The objective was to provide
benefits to the people of remote villages. It was the beginning of the
full-fledged Institute of Adult & Continuing Education. During this
period, Vidyapeeth started the new unit, which is called JANPAD, with
the objective of propagating the knowledge of day-to-day local and
national affairs for the urban society through black-board / broadcast
service mass communication being the aim. With the dawn of independence,
there was a dire need to provide opportunities for higher education to
the underprivileged section of the society, specially in the Tribal
belt. The Evening College (Shramjeevi College) was the outcome of this
idea. The basic objective of establishing the Evening (Shramjeevi)
College was to admit the students who worked during day-hours and wanted
to educate themselves for better job opportunities. During this period
Rajasthan was also emerging as a potential state of Union Government of
the India. Availability of trained professionals for industry / business
was the urgent need of the time.
Keeping this in view, Vidyapeeth
initiated a Postgraduate course in the discipline of Social Work(MSW).
Today, a large number of its alumni are working in various positions in
Personnel and Management field throughout the country and abroad. A
number of other institutes like Higher Secondary School, Secondary
School, Post-basic School and the Centre for Fine Arts were also started
by Vidyapeeth to provide education to all the sections of the society.
The College of Teachers' Training was another major event on the path of
progress of Vidyapeeth during the seventies. A special features of
Rajasthan Vidyapeeth administration is what we call the 'Janatantriaya
Shilanyas' (Democratic Foundation), i.e. its democratic way of life and
work. Vidyapeeth is organized and run entirely by its workers and its
basic philosophy is to provide opportunity of participation to each
worker in the decision making process through various constituent
bodies. The entire administration is divided into three-spheres or
streams-social, educational and general management administration. Each
of these spheres has its own elected or nominated leader and body for the management of its affairs. |
The prestige enjoyed by it during all
these years is reflected in the fact that eminent personalities like
Late Shri Bhopal Singh, Maharana of Mewar, Dr. Karan Singh of Kashmir,
Shriyut Srimannarian, Mahapandit Shri Rahul Sankrityanan, etc. have
graced the chair of Chancellor of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth. The eminent
persons, who visited Vidyapeeth, include Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Jai
Prakash Narain, Vinoba Bhave, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and
Dr.Radha Krishnan. Col. Tod completed his historic book 'Annals and
Antiquities of Rajputana' during his stay in the campus of this
institution.
The year 1987 was the landmark in the
history of Vidyapeeth when the Ministry of Human Resource Development,
Government of India and the University Grants Commission granted it the
status of a Deemed-to-be-University. Since then, a number of different
types of courses, including professional ones, for the benefit of the
society, have been launched. Its guiding objectives have invariably been
to provide research based qualitative education to community through
preservation and conservation of our socio-cultural values. The
institution is not only spreading its wings of education in the country
itself but has also entered into the area of international studies
through academic exchange of its students and faculty members to
Slippery Rock University a prestigious University of USA. This is a step
forward to the academic excellence and towards providing opportunity to
the students and teachers of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth. |
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