Acharya Ramamurti | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 January 1913 |
| Died | 20 May 2010 (aged 97) |
| Occupation(s) | Social activist Gandhian Educationist |
| Known for | Ramamurti Review Committee Shrambharati |
| Awards | Padma Shri Jamnalal Bajaj Award |
Acharya Ramamurti (22 January 1913 – 20 May 2010) was an Indian social activist,gandhian, educationist and academic.[1] He headed the review committee of 1990, popularly known asRamamurti Review Committee, for evaluating the progress of theNational Policy on Education of 1986.[2][3] He was the director ofShrambharati, anon governmental organization, engaged in community development, adhering toGandhian ideals.[4] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of thePadma Shri in 1999.[5]
Ramamurti was born on 22 January 1913 in a small village inJaunpur district by name, Ardhpur, in the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh in a financially healthy family of farmers.[1] After securing a master's degree (MA) in History fromLucknow University, he started his career, in 1954, as a lecturer atGovernment Queens College,Varanasi but resigned from the job on 10 May 1954 to pursue an active career in social service[6] and joinedShrambharati, a social service community founded byDhirendra Mazumdar, a gandhian andSarvodaya leader.[4] When theBhoodan movement was launched byVinoba Bhave in 1951,[7] Ramamurti became associated with it, travelling from village to village, propagating the ideals and collecting land.[1] After the death of Mazumdar, he became the Director of the organization and is credited with transforming it into one of the largest peace movement organizations in the country.[6]Main aspects of Reviewed Policy by Ram Murti Recview committee 1990.In the early Seventies, he started working closely withJayaprakash Narayan and was involved with theBihar Andolan. After the success ofTotal Revolution, he turned his attention to education and organized theEarn and Learn movement in Khadigram and thirty neighboring villages.[1] In 1989, whenV. P. Singh became thePrime Minister of India,[8] his involvement with national level politics increased and he was appointed as the chairman of the Review Committee to appraise the implementation of theNational Education Policy of 1980, on 7 May 1990.[3] The committee, known as theRamamurti Review Committee, submitted the report[9] on 9 January 1991 and recommended several changes which included the introduction of a common school system, promotion of women education,Early childhood care and education (ECCE), and Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW), among others.[2][10] He received theJamnalal Bajaj Award in 1998[11] and the Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of thePadma Shri in 1999.[5]Acharya Ram murti was the chairman of the Revised national Policy committee.Ramamurti was one of the founders ofMahila Shanti Sena (Women's Peace Corps), the women's wing ofShanti Sena, which was established in February 2002, atVaishali,Bihar, at a conference jointly organized by Shrambharati andMcMaster University.[1] Besides writing several articles on Gandhian social and educational ideals,[12] he also delivered several lectures, in India and abroad; the one atMcMaster University, Canada, titledTotal Culture of Peace, is one among them. The lecture was the 2003 edition of the series,Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Nonviolence.[6] Towards the fag end of his life, he was involved with the functioning ofMahila Shanti Sena but also held positions such as that of the director of the Institute for Gandhian Studies, Patna,[6] and as the President of theServseva Sangh.[1] He died on 20 May 2010, in Patna, Bihar, at the age of 97.[1]
