It is indeed a great honour & privilege for me to address this august house which has convened today as a representative set of India’s fifth estate comprising of eduleaders in school education from the nook and cranny of this grand civilization. The illustrious league of progressive principals of India which has been chosen out of an elaborate process of nomination and evaluation comprising of detailed commentaries on 14 odd thematic areas has got a pan Indian representation.
While the State of MAHARASHTRA sends 17 Progressive Principals to this August House the State of UTTAR PRADESH makes this count as 14. If the National capital of DELHI has a representation of 8 Progressive Principals , The state of KARNATAKA sends 7 of them with HARYANA adding up the count by another 6 Progressive Principals, matched by PUNJAB, ANDHRA & TELANGANA combined. If TAMIL NADU has got 5 Progressive Principals , RAJASTHAN makes it 4. The states of MADHYA PRADESH, WEST BENGAL, ODISHA, BIHAR & JHARKHAND too have their presence in this august house. It is a Mini Bharat which is represented by you all from every corner of this nation which is aspiring to usher the New India so well enunciated in the clarion call of Prime Minister Mr. Modi.
We all know about the 9 /11 of 1893 when Swami Vivekanand invoked the world parliament of Religions and got India on the global map resuscitating her millenia old intellectual & spiritual heritage. We also recollect the 9/11 of 2001 whereby the infamous attack on the United States reminds of the prophetic words of the monk spoken 108 years back. Today happens to be yet another 9/11 which shall have its own place in history for its impact & importance simply because of you, the progressive principals of India who are chiselling & nurturing the next generation despite all challenges, hurdles and complications. The very fact that you have all braved this environmentally soggy morning in Delhi and have made it to this forum speaks volumes of your determination, grit and courage.
Your imagination, your experimentation, your daring are all documented so vividly in your elaborate nominations which are rightfully being converted into a a high quality coffee table book for reference, and for action by one and all. Today’s Convention has a definite purpose in deterministic direction to contribute to the building of a New India. We at ReTHINK INDIA are of the view that it is the academia which constitutes the foundations of a modern nation state. If India has to usher a New India, its eduleaders the Progressive Principals have to take the lead in their very zones of influence. Any grand civilizations is nurtured and sustained through a bottoms-up push and this forum is just an external amplification of this very reality.
R. K Vaish (IAS Retd)
Chairperson, ReTHINK INDIA
Welcome Address during the Felicitation of Progressive Principals of India 2017 on
9th of November 2017