Meet Dr. Ashok Kumar Gadiya  (PART-1) 

An eminent professional, educationist and nationalist, CA (Dr) Ashok Kumar Gadiya has carved out a prominent stature for him in the society through his exemplary achievements and contribution. His rise to prominence in such a short span can be attributed to his strong will-power, caliber, conviction, dedication and leadership quality. Born on 1st January 1960, Dr. Gadiya comes from a humble background. Son of Sh. Nand Lal Gadiya of Bansi, a village in the Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan, nurtures a sense of pride in his roots that is etched in the great tradition and glorious history of Mewar. He started his life in a very remote area and gradually rose to become one of the pioneering educationists of Rajasthan.

He has established many educational Institutions in Chittorgarh, Delhi NCR and Ghaziabad to spread education among the young generation belonging to rural areas and specifically the under-privileged classes of society. He strongly believes that the young generation is truly sincere, dedicated and keen to adopt new practices of learning. They can enter any challenging arena and achieve success if they receive focused attention, an inspiring environment and a bit of extra care.

Dr. Gadiya has made a distinct contribution for modernizing and revitalizing the existing education system that had lost its vigour and had eroded over time. Dr. Gadiya`s name deserves to feature at the top for reinvigorating our education system as well as for offering modern but value-based education to the young generation.

He is of the view that in order to educate the young generation in the present scenario, the knowledge base of the education providers (teachers) should also be regularly updated and they need to be continuously trained and motivated. He feels convinced that only then there is a possibility to convert the young generation into responsible, confident and self-reliant youth of the country.

Keeping this in view, he has developed a new mechanism to train the teachers in his institutions on a regular basis. His idea is that teachers should become the mentors for their students as was the practice in our ancient culture. Mentors refer to such personalities who stand apart from the rest by virtue of their deeds and achievements, so that students get morally and mentally uplifted by their contacts with their mentors and through a glimpse at their stature. However, mentors not only leave their lasting footprints on the making of a society but also and more importantly, inspire others to follow their footsteps and attain higher goals for the common wellbeing of mankind. Therefore, he has developed a counseling / mentoring system in his Educational Institutions.

From time to time, many eminent Indians from all walks of life have demonstrated their noble influence on society. Dr. Gadiya, as the Founder of Mewar University, which has emerged as a unique seat of learning and higher education in a very short span of time, is also an embodiment of such contribution. The University set up in Chittorgarh of Rajasthan has been able to achieve its avowed purpose of making higher and technical education accessible to the weaker and deprived sections of our society in a short period of its existence.

The most significant aspect is out of this 11000 students, 75% are from SC/ST/OBC and Minority communities and further out of the 75% almost 90% students hail from remote areas and poor families. Students from 29 states of the country besides 20 different countries are now enrolled in different courses and this diversity and spread are continuously being expanded. Mewar University has gradually been transformed as an International seat of learning where students from nook and corner of the country as well as from different countries of the world are joining for higher education. The mission for Dr. Gadiya is that children even from extremely poor families as well as those from remote villages receive the boon of higher education in his University so as to grow up as ideal citizens and enter the society with a dedication to serve the nation. His cherished desire is that the students coming out of the university are empowered with self-confidence, patriotism, sensitivity to the society, high esteem for the great personalities of the country as well as inspired by the ideals of the nation builders. His objective is to prepare the youth with such lofty ideals. He has been busy round the clock with this sacred mission.

This sacred mission and his passion guided Dr. Gadiya to his tryst with the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of India announced a special scheme for education with a view to bringing the youths of J&K to the national mainstream. Inspired by this opportunity and propelled by his patriotic spirit, Dr. Gadiya launched himself on a journey in 2012 that was destined to shape his long association with the ‘paradise on earth’. An indefatigable warrior, Dr. Gadiya believes in leading from the front. He made several personal trips to Kashmir to interact with the youth and the parent groups.

The pronounced objective was to serve the poorest of the poor students from J&K and that too from remote & border areas. He visited the most remote & terrorist affected areas, organized career counseling camps, brought the poor Boys and Girls from that area and educated them in Mewar University. He was surprised to notice the large number of poor students looking for avenues for their future. The parents were equally aspirant to send their children for higher education but lacked the means to do so. He had intensive interaction with parents and children in several districts and locations like Anantnag, Kulgam, Kupwara, Handwara, Bandipora, Baramulla and Shopian. Many times he was warned to be careful because of the infestation of terrorism in some of these areas, but his conviction and mission prevailed over any such fear.

In one of his errands to an interior location in Kulgaon he interacted with groups of parents. When Dr. Gadiya extended his offer to educate their children in engineering free of cost, they could not believe their ears and some even had tears in their eyes. This further consolidated his determination. Applicant students gradually gave up apprehension and applied in large numbers to enroll themselves in Mewar University. The offer of free education was also based on expectation of some support from the Government of India through their scholarship scheme although Dr. Gadiya was aware of the nuances of the policy and dealing with the Governmental mechanism. Once having announced his intention there was no going back.(To be continued)