The Malaviya Spirit at Work

Manoj Sinha scripting a silent revolution in the education of J&K

Prof Shyam Narayan Lal

One of the quietest yet most consequential transformations of Manoj Sinha's tenure as Lieutenant Governor has unfolded in education. Its significance lies not in any single reform, but in the breadth of its ambition-from a child's first encounter with learning to the highest reaches of scholarship, and from vocational training to research infrastructure. Together, these initiatives are rebuilding and reimaging educational landscape of Jammu and Kashmir from the foundations upward.

The beginning of transformation is visible where education itself begins. Within six years, pre-primary education has been extended to more than 16,000 schools, reaching nearly 1.85 lakh children who, a generation ago, might have entered school without this crucial foundation. Nearly 400 institutions have also been brought under the PM SHRI scheme. Conceived as exemplars of the National Education Policy, these schools are intended not merely to describe reform, but to demonstrate what it can achieve.

From these early classrooms, the movement extends steadily upward. In villages where access-and sometimes even electricity-was once uncertain, smart classrooms and ICT laboratories have begun to take root. The Vidya Samiksha Kendra now tracks educational progress in real time, enabling the administration to measure change rather than merely announce it. JK e-Pathshala seeks to bridge the distance between geography and opportunity, ensuring that a child in a remote valley does not inherit a smaller world than one in Jammu or Srinagar. AAGHAAZ laboratories and virtual-reality classrooms carry science beyond the printed page, transforming abstract ideas into experiences that students can see and explore. Beneath these visible changes lies an equally important reform: teachers are being trained on a large scale so that new technology is matched by new methods of teaching.

The same ambition continues beyond the school-going years. Jammu and Kashmir's crossing of the threshold of full literacy under the ULLAS mission represents more than a statistical milestone. It reflects an understanding that education does not end with childhood; it must travel across generations and reach adults whom the formal system once left behind.

At the secondary level, another transformation is underway: the gradual dismantling of the old hierarchy that placed the university degree above the workshop, the craft and the trade. Thousands of vocational laboratories and upgraded Industrial Training Institutes now connect education with the working lives students will eventually lead. The underlying principle is clear: for a population this young, hope becomes meaningful only when accompanied by the skills and opportunities needed to act upon it.

By the time this generation enters higher education, the philosophy has matured into an institutional framework. In 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir Higher Education Council was reconstituted under Sinha's chairmanship, with the distinguished educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi, Professor Dinesh Singh, as its Vice-Chairman. The initiative signalled that the region needed not merely more institutions, but a new relationship among them-one that was interdisciplinary, flexible and project-based rather than confined within traditional academic silos.

The University of Jammu's innovative "Design Your Degree" programme carries this vision into reality. It allows students to shape their learning pathways by combining knowledge, skills and practical experience. In September 2023, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education recommended that the UGC examine the programme's feasibility, promote it nationally and consider incorporating such models into the National Curriculum Framework. An initiative born in Jammu thus emerged as a possible model for higher education across India. The Council's continuing deliberations-including discussions on the place of artificial intelligence in the curriculum-also demonstrate that meaningful reform is not achieved through a single decree. It requires a sustained effort to imagine the university of the future.

The results stand at the summit of this journey. For the first time in the region's history, both the University of Jammu and the University of Kashmir have secured the coveted NAAC A++ accreditation, placing them among India's leading institutions of higher education. Given the region's troubled history and the prolonged constraints under which its universities have functioned, such an achievement might once have appeared almost unthinkable.

Enabled by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's decisive intervention and cooperation among the UT administration, the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Army, the transfer of 147 kanals and 11 marlas-over 18 acres-of adjoining Army-held land marked a historic breakthrough for the University of Jammu after five decades of waiting. More than a physical expansion, it has opened the way for the University's future growth. If its A++ accreditation reflects how far it has travelled, this land gives it the wings to go further.

The rise of IIM Jammu and IIT Jammu as institutions of national standing offers another measure of how far this educational ambition has advanced. IIM Jammu's growing international recognition is no small achievement. Together, these institutions have placed Jammu firmly on the national and global maps of management and technical education. They attract talent from across India while creating new opportunities for the region's youth. Their growth demonstrates that great institutions are not built through announcements alone, but through vision, investment, patience and sustained commitment.

As Chancellor, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has helped reposition the two SKUASTs as centres of agricultural innovation, entrepreneurship and rural transformation. His emphasis on modern research, start-up incubation, climate-resilient farming and the transfer of technology from laboratory to field has brought agricultural education closer to farmers' needs. Under his stewardship, the universities have emerged not merely as degree-awarding institutions, but as vital partners in strengthening farm livelihoods and Jammu and Kashmir's rural economy.

Manoj Sinha's determination to reshape education is also evident in his close engagement with academic institutions. His addresses across the Union Territory repeatedly return to one central conviction: in the modern world, ideas are a new form of wealth. He urges universities to cultivate creativity, innovation and intellectual property while remaining committed to social transformation. His convocation addresses rarely rest upon ceremonial praise. Instead, they raise deeper questions: What should a university produce? How should knowledge serve society? Can technological progress remain anchored in civilisational values?

Across major academic forums, Sinha has consistently envisioned universities as centres of critical inquiry, innovation and social responsibility. He has advocated combining artificial intelligence with Indian ethos, using technology to build a sustainable "heritage economy," and educating responsible citizens rather than merely skilled individuals. The growing stature of the region's universities, IIT Jammu and IIM Jammu reflects how steadily this vision is taking institutional form.

Buildings may weather and technologies may pass into obsolescence, but institutions endure-enlarging minds, nurturing aspirations and shaping generations. Manoj Sinha entered Banaras Hindu University, founded by Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya, as a young engineering student; he appears to have carried from it not merely a degree, but something of the Mahamana's spirit. The educational transformation he has fostered in Jammu and Kashmir bears the unmistakable imprint of that vision. It may well prove to be his most enduring legacy.

(The author is Chairperson, Anandam-The Centre for Happiness Indian Institute of Management Jammu)