Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail Fame Visits ‘The Valley of Divine Peace’ (see bottom of this page)

 

NRI donated land to Kalgidhar Trust to set up educational institute

 

Toronto, Aug 07, 2007
Gurdev Gill/Avtar Singh
NRIpress

NRI Professor Uday Singh ( Toronto) 84, donated 3/4 acres of land to The Kalgidhar Trust in memory of his parents and foundation stone of 24th Akal Academy laid in village Dhanal Kalan, Jalandhar, Punjab on 29 July, 2007.

A special samagam (congregation) was organized by the Kalgidhar Trust, Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh on this occasion. This is the 2nd amongst the new plan of opening 150 academies in the next 5 years announced by the Trust. Baba Iqbal Singh Ji (President of the Trust), Dr. Khem Singh (Vice-President), Mr. Chunni Lal, MLA of the area, Mr J.S Brar, MLA, Jalandhar Cantt., Bibi Gurdev Kaur Sangha and a large number of eminent personalities and residents of villages around Dhanal graced the occasion.

Mission of this society is to o establish permanent peace in the world through value based education and spiritual rejuvenation creating good world citizens.

Sant Attar Singh

In 1920, Sant Attar Singh stated the society with the vision, envisaged an educational institution in the Himalayas from where young children equipped with a blend of modern scientific education and spiritual learning would spread the message of peace and universal brotherhood around the globe. He strongly advocated the growth of educational institutions with spiritual base and ancient Indian culture, values, morals and humility.

Sant ji set up a school for girls in 1906, followed by a boy's school and later the Akal Degree College at Mastauna in Punjab. A century ago, Sant Attar Singh laid the foundation stone of the first college at Benaras Hindu University on persuasion of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, a great social reformer.

Sant Teja Singh

The Principal of Khalsa College, Amritsar, Teja Singh M.A, LLB ( Punjab) to promote the mission. He was sent for advanced educational training to Columbia University and later on completed his masters (AM) from Harvard University, USA. On his return, he devoted himself in promoting the education and worked and as Principal of many colleges in Punjab. In 1956, he set up a spiritual centre in the remote village of Baru, in the Himalayas and established The Kalgidhar Society

Baba Iqbal Singh, President of The Kalgidhar Trust
( the Retd. Director of Agriculture, State Government of Himachal Pradesh, India)

Baba Iqbal Singh Ji emphasized that the main purpose of Akal academies is to nurture and groom young children to become good human beings and successful professionals. He cautioned the gathering that spiritual value-based education alone could save Punjab and urged all to join hands with The Kalgidhar Trust to spread Guru Nanak's Mission.

Dr. Khem Singh, former vice chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, presented a review of the activities of the Trust, its mission and the road ahead. He recalled the past when beginning with just five children, the vision of Sant Atar Singh Ji and Sant Teja Singh Ji had taken shape and noted that now there were over 23,000 students on the rolls of 23 Akal Academies receiving high class English medium 10+2 CBSE education, making a deep social impact on the underprivileged rural population of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Setup: 22 schools, One 100-bed Hospital, 2 De-addiction Centers, an Orphanage, an Old Age Home, a Home for Widows & Destitute Women, an Ashram, Visitors’ Lodging Complex, 10 Spiritual Centers

Activities

1 Have established 22 (10+2) English medium co-educational institutions under the name of Akal Academy affiliated to C.B.S.E. (Central Board of Secondary Education), New Delhi, where 20,000 students are gaining education.

2 Have established 100-bed Charitable Hospital catering to the health needs of underprivileged and deprived rural masses of remote & backward areas of Himachal Pradesh.

3 Regular medical camps are also arranged twice a year for complete healthcare of the rural masses of remote & backward areas of Himachal Pradesh.

4 Have established two De-addiction Centers at village Cheema in Punjab and Baru Sahib in Himachal Pradesh, India. More than 1500 patients have already been cured in these centers.

5 Have established an orphanage by the name of Akal Child Welfare Foundation that provides shelter to more than 800 children.

6 Have established old age home (Akal Home for the Elderly) wherein more than 200 senior citizens have found shelter & solace in their twilight years.

7 Have established Home for Widows and Destitute Women, wherein more than 200 women are imparted vocational training in various fields to make them self-dependant.

8 Spiritual Academy for girls at Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh and for boys at Cheema, Punjab where students coming from weaker sections of rural areas are provided education, spiritual & vocational training in music and other fields.

9 Akal Rural Upliftment program which generates employment for the people of remote, backward and far-flung hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.

10 Save Environment Program that uses non-conventional sources of energy like solar energy and bio-gas plants to save our mother earth.

11 Organizes periodical summer camps for students to enable them imbibe good democratic values of advanced scientific techniques & education for propagating as good citizens of the world.

12 Rehabilitation and Relief Projects: The Kalgidhar Society made a landmark in relief efforts for South Asia earthquake victims in Kashmir. The Society adopted 15 villages reconstructing 930 houses, 1 school, 3 mosques, 1 Hindu temple and 4 Sikh temples till November 30, 2005. Further reconstruction of 1941 houses, 4 mosques, 1 Hindu temple and 1 Sikh temple is being carried out.

The Kalgidhar Society spend annually more than $5 million on various philanthropic activities:

Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail Fame Visits ‘The Valley of Divine Peace’

January, 2007: Sabeer Bhatia was in the country with a team of professionals from Berkeley University to have a first hand visit of the upcoming project site - Nano City in Haryana on the lines of Silicon Valley. He personally expressed a desire to see the Real India with his guests when a team of volunteers from Baru Sahib met him.

Sabeer Bhatia being welcomed by the management of Akal Academy
Sabeer accompanied by the guests, was taken on a campus tour of the Hospital, Academy, Orphanage, Gurmat Classes, Sangeet Classes and Akal Rozgar Yojana. It was a moment of reminiscence for Sabeer when he was shown a presentation made on his own life and his phases of growth, by the students in the computer lab.

Professionals from Berkeley University enjoying snacks

Sh. Iqbal Singh Designation President of Kalgidhar Trust

• Retd. Director of Agriculture, State Government of Himachal Pradesh, India
• M.Sc in Agriculture from Punjab University

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