Top Sikh Organisation in the field of Education

Top Sikh Organisation in the field of Education and Health Care

There are four top Sikh organisations in India, which are running maximum educational institutions and medical care centres. These organisations are SGPC, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Kalgidhar Trust Baru Sahib, and DSGMC. Starting with SGPC, which is considered as the most important Sikh organisation, it has already been stated in Chapter 2 that this organisation is running a large number of educational institutions. Soon after coming into existence on 15th November 1920, SGPC, started its first school, Guru Nanak Kanya Pathshala at Amritsar in 1925. In 1927 it’s started Shaheed Missionary College in Amritsar for training the Sikhs as Sikh Preachers. Presently it runs 111 educational institutions including two medical colleges, two engineering colleges and two universities. Some of these institutions are based outside Punjab. For example, Guru Nanak Khalsa College Mumbai is one of the prestigious colleges in the country and the same is managed by SGPC.

Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Mumbai

Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Mumbai is an esteemed institution run by SGPC. It was the brain child of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who had thought of starting an educational institution for higher education in Bombay (now Mumbai). He put up the proposal to the Sikh leaders, who accepted it and started this college in 1937 with an objective of providing good quality of higher education and also to popularize Sikh Culture in a non-Sikh state. Thus in 1937, G. N. Khalsa College was born in a plot where the college stands today, with the total area of 27642 sq. yards. In spite of being a Minority institution, the college follows the Sikh ideology of oneness of Humanity, prides itself on its cosmopolitan staff and student population and a healthy, secular atmosphere.

The college proudly upholds its secular ideals weaving a rich, vibrant, multicultural microcosm of Indian society. The college, which now has all the streams, art, science and commerce is situated Natha Lal Parekh Marg, Matunga, Mumbai. It is affiliated to University of Mumbai and runs a large number of courses in all the faculties for graduation and post graduation of the students. Among its alumni, the names of various prominent persons like Akshay Kumar (Actor), Balbir Singh (Hockey Player) and S. S. Narayan (Football Player) may be mentioned. However, it may be stated here that Khalsa College Amritsar, the premier Sikh institution in India is not under the control of SGPC. It is managed separately as per the details given below-

Khalsa College

Khalsa College Amritsar is not only a premier educational institution, but, also a magnificent architectural monument. It was founded in 1892. The sprawling 300 acre campus of this college is situated on GT Road adjoining Guru Nanak Dev University to which it is academically affiliated. Its architectural design was created by the famous architect, S. Ram Singh. It is managed by Khalsa College Charitable Society which was registered in 1892 at Lahore. This society is engaged in creating educational institutions for offering world class education to generate the human resource as per the requirement of the present day society. Whereas this society had only seven educational institutions in 2004, presently it is running 19 institutions including schools and 10 professional colleges. These include Khalsa College Sr. Sec. School (established in 1892), Khalsa College Public School Amritsar (established in 1984), Khalsa College International Public School, Ranjeet Avenue, Amritsar (established in 2001), Khalsa College Public School, Heir, Amritsar (established in 2008) and colleges of education, nursing, pharmacy, veterinary and animal sciences and of engineering and technology. A large number of renowned scholars and sports persons are included among the alumni of this institution. The present management is led by S. Satyajeet Singh Majithia as the President and S. Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina as the Secretary of the organization. The contact details of the college are email:pr.kcgc@gmail.com & contact nos. 0183-35013525 & 9855271108 (M.).

Chief Khalsa Diwan

Chief Khalsa Diwan is one of the premier organisations of the Sikhs. When, as a part of Singh Sabha movement, various Khalsa Diwans like that of Khalsa Diwan Amritsar, Khalsa Diwan Lahore etc. were having conflicts, it was decided by the Sikh intellectuals that a united Khalsa Diwan be established and thus came into being Chief Khalsa Diwan on 30th October 1902. The prominent persons who conceived the idea of such a unification became the office bearers of Chief Khalsa Diwan. They were Bhai Arjan Singh, of Bagarian and S. Sundar Singh Majithia who became the first President and Secretary of Diwan. A number of Singh Sabhas affiliated themselves to Chief Khalsa Diwan. Since then till 1925 when SGPC became the supreme body of the Sikhs, Chief Khalsa Diwan played a vital role to protect the interest of the Sikhs in social, educational, religious and political affairs. Whereas they opened in 1906 a Khalsa Parcharak Vidyalaya at Taran Taran for training Ragis, Granthis and preachers, they also prepared a code of rules known as Gurmat Parkash Bhag Sanskar. This proved a very important document till Sikh Rehat Maryada was issued by SGPC in 1945. The Diwan also opened libraries, schools and made efforts for promoting Punjabi language. They started organising educational conferences which are still continuing. The last Sikh education conference being the 66th was held in November 2016 at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, G.T. Road, Amritsar. Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School was started at Amritsar with a view to provide education to the Sikhs in English medium. The contribution of the Chief Khalsa Diwan till 1990 has been summed up in the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism in the following words- “The Chief Khalsa Diwan may be seen to have made three key contributions to Sikh life. The first was institutionalizing the Singh Sabha view of Sikhism as a separate religion with distinct rituals and a tradition devoid of Hindu influence. The resulting consciousness affected the way Sikhs looked at each other and the world around them. Without that consciousness, the mobilization of Sikhs spread across the world would have been impossible. There would have been no drive for protecting Sikh rights nor assertion of community control over the Gurdwaras.

Secondly, the Diwan took existing but often desperate Sikh organizations and linked them together in an effective communication system. Efforts were focussed and information and ideas disseminated over time and distance. This enhanced the sense of Sikh identity and mission and opened up new paths of collaborative action and also conflict. The religious gatherings, conferences, district and provincial meetings, tracts and, most importantly, the journals and newspapers all were critical legacies from the Singh Sabha and Chief Khalsa Diwan era. Without them, there would have been no dissemination of Sikh rituals, no sustained communication and exchange of ideas, no network that could be activated for legislation over anand marriage and no Akali challenge to the community.

The final element was a strategy for dealing with internal division and survival as a minority community. Accommodation, negotiation and compromise were hallmarks of the Diwan’s policy. Sikhs could not be totally self-reliant. Some of the Chief Khalsa Diwan leaders, such as Sundar Singh Majithia, pursued collaborative arrangements in the widened legislature and attempted to help Sikh interests though alliances with other political groups and the British. The Chief Khalsa Diwan, as an institution, however, resumed its familiar task of trying to buttress Sikhism through education, toleration and institution-building.” – (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Vol. I, p. 464).

During the century under reference, the organization progressed under the president ship of two persons, namely late S. Kirpal Singh and S. Charanjit Singh Chaddha. S. Charanjit Singh Chaddha, president since 2004, renamed the organization as Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society. During his period number of new educational institutions were opened. These include CKD institute of Management and Technology Amritsar, International College of Nursing, Amritsar, CKD institute of Management Technology Taran Taaran. Some other schools were also setup. However, the year 2018 brought a bad name to the organization when S. Charanjeet Singh Chadha and his team had to leave the organizational posts. A committee was elected to run the management till regular elections due in the beginning of 2019. This committee headed by Dr. Santokh Singh had also to leave the management under unfortunate circumstances. The regular election, which was scheduled to be held on 2nd Dec. 2018, also could not take place due to the stay granted by the court. All these developments show the sad stage of affairs as there are internal conflicts among the members and allegations and counter allegations are being levelled against each other. S. Dhanraj Singh is now acting as the president till the elections are held. The need is that dedicated team of persons with high character and integrity come forward to administer this prominent organization. It the duty of the entire Sikh community to ensure that the right persons are made the office bearers so that this great institution is restored to its earlier laudable glory and all the units of this organization like Taran Taaran, Ludhiana, Delhi, Kanpur and Mumbai may suitably contribute in achieving the laudable objects for which our great leaders had created this august organization. The contact details of the organization are Chief Khalsa Diwan, G.T. Road, Punjab 143001. The phone numbers are 91-183-2226643, 2562649, 2212329 and the email is info@chiefkhalsadiwan.com.

Baru Sahib

Baru Sahib is a peaceful valley situated in District Sirmor of Himachal Pradesh. Sant Atar Singh Ji, a renowned Sikh Saint from Mastuana had a vision of a place like this in the Himalayas to emerge as the Breeding place of young spiritual souls who could lead a spiritual life with modern scientific look. His devout disciple Sant Teja Singh (1875-1965), himself highly educated with Masters from Harvard University decided to translate this vision into reality. Baba Iqbal Singh Ji, a senior officer of the Himachal Government and Dr. Khem Singh Gill, the former Vice Chancellor of Agriculture University joined hands with Sant Teja Singh for the realisation of this dream. Thus, it was decided to develop the place into a great centre of spiritual cum scientific education. As per their belief, this valley was the place where several saints, sages and Rishis had preformed hard penance from the ancient times and the Tenth Guru also visited this holy place. The joint efforts of these great visionaries gave birth to Akal Academy Baru Sahib with the object of imparting

education based upon the most modern and scientific approach inconformity with the Gursikh way of living. Baba Iqbal Singh, in particular worked very hard to make the Academy popular and in raising funds for its continuous maintenance and running. This Academy was not an end in itself. Baba Ji wanted to create hundreds of Academies in the villages of Punjab and surrounding states. Thus, a trust was created known as ‘The Kalgidhar Trust’, which was registered on 22 October 1982 at Shimla under the Indian Trust Act 1882 vide Registration No. 189. The Kalgidhar Trust is a humanitarian charity organisation with its headquarters at Baru Sahib and branch offices in USA, Europe, Canada, Australia and Singapore. As this Trust is aimed at creating rural educational institutions for bringing a rural transformation in north India, the Trust collects donations from philanthropists individuals and corporates to achieve the mission of creating a chain of 500 rural schools by 2020.

The Kalgidhar Society, Baru Sahib

After creating the above noted trust, a society was also formed in that vary year for creating and administering the various educational institutions started by the Trust. In fact both the Trust and the society form a group mainly aimed at spreading education and helping the people by providing medical aid and other facilities in the sphere of healthcare. At present this group is running and managing 119 Akal Academies (schools following CBSE Curriculum) located in extreme rural belts of states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and Himachal Pradesh. Apart from the academies, in segment of Higher educations. This group has established two full-fledged autonomous Private Universities – ‘Eternal University at Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh’ and ‘Akal University’ at Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda, in Punjab. The Akal Academies are educating more than 60000 students in rural areas, providing them world class scientific education blended with moral and spiritual values. The unique feature of all these Akal Academies is that every child recites Nitnem before the beginning of classes. Thus following Gurukul traditions, the Gursikhi is being nurtured at this tender age, which would surely bring silent revolution by creating good human material following the tenets of our revered Sikh Gurus. Akal Charitable Hospital, Akal Deaddiction Centres at Cheema and Baru Sahib, Akal Institute of Rural Women Empowerment (An institute where free education along with boarding and lodging is provided to Girl children from rural and economically backward section of society up to Post Graduation level) are the few of other activities in which this group is actively engaged from past 5 years in service of Humanity. The main persons behind this group are Baba Iqbal Singh Ji (President of the organisations), Dr. Khem Singh Gill and Dr. Davinder Singh. The Head office of the organisation under reference is at Baru Sahib and the branch offices in northern India are located in other parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The contact numbers of Baru Sahib are +911799-276031/91 and +91981603303/04 The contact numbers at Delhi office situated at F-3 Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-27 are +919811108329 and +919871312313.

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee – Educational Institutions

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee is also a leading Sikh organization which runs educational institutions in Delhi. The details regarding Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee appear in Chapter 2 of this book. So far its educational services are concerned, it runs a chain of schools known as Guru Harikhisan Public schools. The first Guru Harikhisan Public school was started in 1965 at India Gate. Presently such schools are situated at different places like Vasant Vihar, Shahdra, Punjabi Bagh, Nanak Piao, Karol Bagh, Hargoblind enclave, Hamkunt Colony, Kalka Ji, Tilak Vihar, Fateh Nagar, Hari Nagar, Vishnu Garden and Nirankari Colony. DSGMC also runs some colleges and technical institutions. The same are as follow:- Sri Guru Tegh Bahadar Khalsa College, Guru Tegh Bahadar Institute of Technology, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College, Mata Sundri College for women, Guru Tegh Bahadur Polytechnic Institute, Guru Ram Das College of Education, Guru Nanak College of Education, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadar Institute of Management & IT and Guru Hargobind Institute of Management & Information Technology. The DSGMC manages all the educational institutions through a directorate and the persons appointed as chair persons of the respective institution. SGTB College was earlier situated at Dev Nagar Delhi, but, later on when the committee possessed huge piece of land in the University area it was shifted to the bigger premises and now it is one of the leading colleges affiliated to Delhi University. Its contact numbers are 011-2766-7469, 011-2766-6220. Dev Nagar College is also continuing as a separate college. Its contact numbers are 011-2872-9399, 011-2872-8909. Mata Sundri College for woman is a leading woman college situated at Mata Sundri Lane, New Delhi-110002. Its contact numbers are 011-2323-7291, 011-2323-1449, 011-2323-6102. Sri Guru Goblind Singh College of Commerce is a leading college situated at opposite TV Tower, Pitam Pura, Delhi-110034. Its contact numbers are 011-2732-1109, 011-2732-1528, 011-2732-1855, 011-2732-6710.

sikhpride