Banasthali Vidyapith

Banasthali Vidyapith
वनस्थली विद्यापीठ

Banasthali Vidyapith Logo
Motto in English
 University for Women: University with a difference
Established October 1935
Type Private
President Chitra Purohit
Vice-president Siddharth Shastri
Vice-Chancellor Aditya Shastri
Location Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk, Rajasthan, India
26°22′48″N 75°51′19″E / 26.38°N 75.855278°ECoordinates: 26°22′48″N 75°51′19″E / 26.38°N 75.855278°E
Campus Rural, more than 850 acres (3.4 km2)
Pro - Vice Chancellor Ina Shastri
Nickname Banasthali
Affiliations UGC[1]
Website www.banasthali.org

Banasthali Vidyapith or Banasthali University (Hindi: वनस्थली विद्यापीठ)located in the Banasthali Vidyapith town of Tonk district of Indian Rajasthan state, is a Deemed University[2] (Exclusively for Women) offering programs at school, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate level to women. It is the largest residential university for women's education in the world and indeed not just a pride of India but a true nation builder.

It is situated 72 km south west of the capital Jaipur. Banasthali Vidyapith is a center of learning for girls from nursery to post-graduate stage, offering them modern education together with India's cultural and traditional values.

Overview

Banasthali Vidyapith is a fully residential women's university which offers an integrated system extending from the primary to the Ph.D. level. It is the largest residential university for women in the world and indeed not just a pride of India but a true nation builder.

Banasthali Vidyapith was founded on October 6, 1935 by eminent freedom fighters and educationists, Pt. Hiralal Shastri the first Chief Minister of state of Rajasthan and Smt. Ratan Shastri decorated with Padma Bhushan by President of India and honoured by Jamna Lal Bajaj award for her service to the cause of women's education. The institution is known world over for its dedication to the noble cause of women education and was declared as an institution 'deemed to be university' in 1983. While NAAC has re-accredited Banasthali Vidyapith at the highest possible ‘Grade A’ level in 2011, the ‘Review Committee (Tandon Committee) of Ministry of HRD’ also appreciated the overall efforts of Vidyapith in areas of Institutional Governance, Academic Achievements, Research, Student Progression, Infrastructure etc. and categorized Banasthali Vidyapith under ‘Category A’ list of ‘Institutions deemed to be university’ in the year 2010. Furthermore a rigorous All India Universities’ Survey by AC Nielsen-India Today in 2012 ranked Vidyapith at I position (Factual Rank). If aspects like exclusive dedication to women education, fully residential character, rural surrounding amidst its own unmatchable campus of 850 acres, range of courses from Nursery to Ph.D., national representation of students, focus on Indian ethos & culture are considered in totality, than there is no institution like Banasthali Vidyapith in the entire country. It is encouraging to note that that the Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat, Smt. Kamla Beniwal, Speaker of Loksabha, Smt. Meira Kumar and Chief People Officer of Reliance Entertainment, Smt. Saagarika Ghosal are among our alumni. Banasthali Vidyapith has been registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act 1860. CSR at University: The Vidyapith has been able to improve its infrastructure vastly. Much of this was made possible by generous support of Vidyapith’s well-wishers. State Bank of India, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Foundation, ICICI Bank, Kanoria Group, Bank of Nova Scotia, Artech-Dalmia etc. have already done generous philanthropy under CSR. Banasthali Vidyapith is the first University in India that has started 'Centre for Financial Planning Training and Research for Women' and has started receiving CSR grants from corporate to support financial literacy for women through free workshops, e-learning modules and knowledge creation through research papers, course inclusion in MBA/BBA and doctoral research in financial planning.

History

To realize a dream which he had cherished since his boyhood, Pandit Hiralal Shastri, the founding father of Banasthali Vidyapith, resigned his post of Secretary in the Home and Foreign Department in the erstwhile Jaipur State in 1927 and selected the remote village of Banthali (as Banasthali was originally called) as the centre of his life’s work. His plan was to organize a programme of rural reconstruction on the lines laid down by Gandhiji and also to train public workers in the service of the people.

Shastriji also wanted to train his daughter Shantabai as a social worker dedicated to the cause of women’s upliftment. But destiny ordained otherwise. After a brief illness of a day, Shantabai bade farewell to Banasthali on 25 April 1935 at the age of only 12 years.

To complete the unfinished task of his daughter, the Shri Shantabai Shiksha Kutir was started in October 1935 in the mud huts provided by the Jiwan Kutir, with six girls.

The name ‘Banasthali Vidyapith’ was adopted in 1943. This was also the year when undergraduate courses were first introduced. The institution was granted the status of a deemed university in 1983 by the UGC. Prof. Sushila Vyas, the first student of Banasthali Vidyapith was appointed the first Director of Vidyapith. With its autonomous status, the institute could now experiment, innovate and formulate its own curriculum and other activities.

Under the tutelage of the Shastri family, Banasthali Vidyapith has grown from a school catering to six students to the only residential university in the country that provides education to girls from the pre-primary stage up to the Doctoral level. Banasthali Vidyapith has been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with ‘A’ Grade (Five star Rating).

Management

The main statutory bodies of Banasthali Vidyapith are:

Faculties:

List of Officers

Five-fold education

Banasthali Vidyapith aims at the synthesis of spiritual value of the East and scientific spirit of the West. The main thrust of all the activities of the Banasthali Vidyapith is the development of a complete personality. The institution firmly believes that the personality consists of interdependent components, each being equally important requiring equal attention and can only be developed through a wholesome education. The ‘Panchmukhi Shiksha’ which has evolved from experimentation, attempts a balance among the five necessary aspects of education: Physical, Practical, Aesthetic, Moral and Intellectual.

A national institution for women's education

The Vidyapith has had virtual autonomy for its school programmes since the very beginning and was affiliated to an outside agency for its university programmes in 1983. In 1983 the government of India, on the advice of the University Grants Commission, notified the Vidyapith as an institution deemed to be university.

The Vidyapith, after attaining university status in 1983, restructured its undergraduate programme. At the postgraduate level, the Vidyapith introduced courses in Computer Science, Operational Research, Electronics and Biotechnology. Teacher Education and Management have been started. New courses include M.Sc. (Bio-Informatics), M.Sc. (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) and M.Sc. (Applied Microbiology).

Along with professional programmes such as MBA and MCA, all postgraduate courses in the Faculty of Science have a semester system. From 2004 all Social Science, Humanities and Home Science Post-graduate programmes have been run as semester courses.

Sports

Intramural programmes

Intramural activities consist of all the sport and fitness activities carried on inside the campus of routine. The morning fitness programme starts at 6.00 a.m. in summer and 6.30 p.m. in winter and includes Yogasans, martial arts, Conditioning and Fitness exercise, and aerobics. These activities are carried out simultaneously at the stations at Vidula Maidan.

The evening programme at Vidula Maidan starts at 4.30 pm, which includes match practice for games like basketball, volleyball, athletics, hockey, football, tennis, martial arts, Kho-Kho, kabaddi, handball, netball, softball, archery, cricket and swimming. Match practice sessions are for the preparation of the teams for extramural competitions.

Games and sports

Inter-faculty/inter house competitions are important events in the intramural programme. The intramural programme is formally opened every year with a festive look, represented by all the faculties of the university and houses of the higher secondary and primary schools. All the teams assemble at Vidula Maidan representing their faculty and houses in a colorful procession.

With the opening ceremony of intramurals, the year-long inter-faculty/ house competition takes off. The intramural competitions are organized in approximately 15–20 games, in competitions organized throughout the session. A formal valedictory function is organized to declare the winner faculty/house of year and to conclude the year long intramural programme.

Mass demonstrations of skills such as sword fighting, Yogasanas, javelin, Lezium, Lathi etc. are performed.

Horse riding: Riders participate in National Equestrian Competitions. The riders of Banasthali have had been the silver medalists in 50 km international endurance run competition.

Swimming is a seasonal activity, available to all the students of Banasthali. More than 50% of the students learn swimming in the campus every year. The swimmers of Banasthali participate in university, state and national level swimming competitions.

Banasthali Seva Dal has been introduced in the university to train the students in Marchpast, Ceremonial Parade and Rifle Shooting. Banasthali Seva Dal runs the Girl Guide programme, which has been registered with “Bharat Scouts and Guides” in 1988. It organizes the camps for Girls Guides and the eligible guides are selected to take part in state and national level camps. Students have been honoured with the “Rashtrapati Award”. Two guides have been selected to attend the international events of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts at Pune (WAGGGS).

Shooting: The Banasthali University Rifle Club is a member of the National Rifle Association of India. On the shooting range training is imparted to the students for shooting skills.

Flying has been a part of Banasthali's learning programme since the early 1960s. The Flying Club (BVGFC) has its renewal of approval from DGCA in Dec 2008 for imparting flying training up to CPL and Instructor level. It has one Cessna 172 and two Cessna 152 aircraft in its fleet and has a private licenced airfield of 50, 191, 418 square meters for training purpose. The runway (09/27) length is 3600 feet at an elevation of 1010 feet. The university owns a hangar which is 9,000 square feet, which can accommodate more than a dozen aircraft. It has precision tools and equipment and the organization is approved by the DGCA. It maintains a separate battery shop and workshop. The airfield has a briefing room and classrooms.

Extramural programmes University teams participate in inter-university, open and women's festival competitions every year.

Inter-university competitions: Basketball, hockey, badminton, table tennis, Kho-Kho, handball and shooting, archery, swimming, chess, cricket, tennis, judo, volleyball.

Open tournaments: The participation in open tournaments of the university at district, state and national level is in basketball, hockey, Kho-kho and Kabbadi, archery, cricket, volleyball, martial arts and tennis.

Women Festival competitions: Participation of the university in the women festival competition is in basketball, hockey, tennis, Kho-Kho and Kabbadi.

Organization of tournaments: The university has organized All India Inter University and Southwest Zone Inter University Championships in hockey, basketball, shooting and tennis. In 2001 AIU sponsored Inter University South-West-Zone (Women) Basketball Championship was organized. In February 2006, Banasthali organized the National Inter University Women Hockey Tournament. Apart from Inter-university tournaments, Rajasthan State Senior and Junior Women Hockey Championship, District level. An Invitation Cricket tournament has been organized, teams from Delhi, Lucknow and Ajmer participated in it. Women's Festival competitions are also organized.

Infrastructure

Play fields (outdoors)

Indoors

'A' Grade university

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has re-accredited Banasthali Vidyapith with ‘A’ grade – the highest possible grade. The seven – member NAAC committee was impressed by the academic, research, co-curricular and extra-curricular facilities available in the university. In the valedictory meeting, the chairperson of the committee lauded Banasthali’s achievement and contribution to the field of women’s education.The Ministry of HRD has listed the university under the top category, i.e. 'MHRD A Category'

References

  1. ↑ dead link] "Deemed University Directory, University Grants Commission, India". ugc.ac.in. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  2. ↑ dead link] "List of Deemed Universities". education.nic.in. Retrieved 2012-02-19.

External links

  1. ↑ http://epaper.bhaskar.com/detail/?id=670939&boxid=1100194457&ch=0&map=map&currentTab=tabs-1&pagedate=01/10/2015&editioncode=85&pageno=3&view=image