India Education Centre
A UNIQUE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY COMPLEX
Being developed on 12 square kilometres (30 acres) prime land in
Noida Institutional Area on Hapur Highway seven kilometres from Delhi border.
Promoters
HUDCO
Housing & Urban Development Corporation
o meet the increasing demand for professionals,
private education trusts are now establishing colleges
all over India. Often, the colleges are set up in isolation at
inappropriate locations depriving students of an academic
environment and synergy with other disciplines.
T
Inspired by the concept of India Habitat Centre initiated
when I was CMD HUDCO during 1985-91, India
Education Centre is an initiative to develop private
university campuses of excellence in which various trusts
can set up colleges in diverse disciplines creating a
mutually supportive academic environment.
The university shall impart education largely in English
medium as it has become the language of global
communication, but based on India’s rich cultural ethos
and its relevance today for realising a world order based
on ethics and respect for all cultures.
SK Sharma, Senior Advisor
Development Alternatives
1. Location : Prime 12 hectares (30 acres) site in Noida
Institutional Area on Hapur Highway seven kilometres
from Delhi border with large residential area available in
Gaziabad on the opposite side of Hapur highway.
2. Promoters : Housing & Urban Development Corporation
(HUDCO), India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi
110 003, Dr PS Rana, CMD, Project Manager: Rajesh
Goel, Deputy Chief, Corporate Planning; Office: 24693022, Fax: 2469-7378, Email: rajesh@hudco.org.
3. The Concept : The campus will be developed with
common facilities such as auditorium, theatre, seminar
rooms, resource centre, guest house, student shops, food
courts and sports suiting a university environment. It will be
self financing developed through contributions collected
from promoters that book space for various faculties.
4. Management : Registered as a society, CMD HUDCO
shall be its ex officio Patron. Shri SK Sharma shall be its
founder President in overall charge of its administration.
Since he has conceptualised the India Education Centre
it is important that he coordinates it in its formative years.
5. The Vision : Based on India’s several thousand years
rich cultural ethos, the vision of the university will be to
link science with spirituality for realising an egalitarian,
peace loving world order in which all have equal social,
environmental, economic and political rights and
opportunities with social justice and equity.
6. Motto of the University: Einstein was the man of the
second millennium; Gandhi is the apostle of the third.
Science tempered with spirituality alone can nurture a
just world order. The motto of the University shall be
“Gandhi & Einstein for Global Sustainability”. The
university will propagate that the long term objective of
society is to attain high levels of spiritual development.
Technology can change life styles but not necessarily the
quality of human existence.
7. Theme Pavilion : The University shall have a theme
pavilion “Gyan Vigyan Darshan” (Spirituality Science
Experience). Through visuals and multimedia projections
the exposition will project India’s rich cultural and spiritual
ethos and its relevance today for moderating science,
capitalism and consumerism. It will explain how through
grassroots empowerment, respect for the environment
and concern for all life forms can be inculcated to realise
an egalitarian world order with social justice and equity.
8. Sustainability Management : An International Institute
for Sustainable Management promoted by Development
Alternatives, a prominent NGO in institutional
development, appropriate technology and environmental
systems will stress on a self reliant society with social
justice and equity nurtured through egalitarian democracy
with empowered local governments.
9. Plastic & Performing Arts : Promoters are invited to
set up colleges in creative arts such as classical and
modern singing, dancing, theatre, painting, graphic arts,
photography and sculpture in materials such as stone,
bronze, ceramics and stained glass. Such programmes
will enrich the campus and sensitise others to various
arts forms. We invite well wishers to support development
of clusters of homes cum student dormitories for masters
in classical arts based on guru-shishya parampara that
nurtured our rich culture since ages.
Divine Proportion
Most ancient cultures discovered a fascinating
divine proportion in nature such as in sunflowers,
pinecones, snowflakes, butterflies, fishes and the
human body.
Calling it the golden section,
architects have used it in monuments such as the
temples of India, pyramids of Egypt, and Noterdam
in Paris. It can be derived from the algorithm, if a>b,
then a : b = a+b : a. it is 1 : 1.618 --, say 1.6. This
brochure is in divine proportion 20 x 32 cms. The
architecture of IEC shall respect it.
10. School of Vedic Sciences : Promoters are invited to
set up a School of Vedic Sciences with faculties such as
rajnitikshastra (true democracy of village republics),
ardhashastra (egalitarian economic system), ayurveda
(medicine), vastushastra (scientific regional planning),
vastu (orientation of buildings), and jyotish (astrology).
Students of architecture and engineering can take
electives in vastushastra and/or vastu and use it in
conjunction with modern planning and architecture. Most
families seek advice of astrologers for ceremonies such
as marriage and setting up business enterprises. In view
of the market demand, private universities need to grant
degrees in such disciplines so that the community does
not suffer at the hands of quacks.
11. Campus Design & Architecture : India Education
Centre is an attempt to create a well knit academic
environment in which students of science and humanities
especially arts, have opportunity to interact thereby
enriching each other. This will also enable students to
discover their latent potentials. For instance, a student
of engineering may like to take an elective in classical
signing. The centre will nurture close student-faculty
interaction and counselling for sound self development.
The built form shall be such as to create an informal
environment while maintaining the integrity of each
programme. To facilitate this, it will be desirable if
various colleges share certain facilities to nurture
interdisciplinary interaction. At each level, terraces with
pergolas and snack counters may be provided common
to nearby colleges.
Elevated streets may connect
different zones. While effort may be made to minimize
air conditioning and elevators, it may not be possible nor
desirable to do away with them. Effort may be made to
make positive use of the roof tops. A part of the one
level basement parking can be designed for positive use.
Charles Correa Architects are being invited to design the
campus. TVB School of Habitat Studies, Delhi, will
assist in analysis and research. A number of architects,
engineers and academics will be associated in specialised
studies such as landscape, appropriate materials, energy
and water conservation measures, interiors and project
management to optimise the project and ensure strict
schedules. An innovative canopy deck bus as civic
infrastructure, especially school bus, is being developed.
HUDCO will try to procure the land of Gaziabad
Development Authority on the other side of Hapur highway
facing the IEC site for facilities such as faculty housing,
student hostels and sports fields. A cluster of homes
each with dormitory for say 10 students can be promoted
for education in classical and modern arts and sciences
based on our traditional guru-shishya parampara. We
invite NRIs to participate in such initiatives.
12. Collaboration : IEC will collaborate with Indian and
foreign universities on (a) IEC advising on Gyan that is
spirituality for nurturing an egalitarian society, and (b)
seeking advice on Vigyan that is science for sustainability.
Promoters & Coordinators :
Dr. PS Rana, CMD HUDCO, Tel: 2469 3022,
Email: cmd@hudco.org
Rajesh Goel, Project Manager, IEC, HUDCO,
India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi110003; Tel: 2464-8424, Mobile: 98185-51095;
Email: rajesh@hudco.org
SK Sharma, Senor Advisor, Development
Alternatives & Managing Trustee People First,
B-32, Qutab Inst Area, New Delhi 110 016; Tel:
2685-1158, 2656-5370, Fax: 2686-6031 Email:
people@sdalt.ernet.in, Res: 2647-1516.
Ashok Vajpeyi, Chairman, Arts Committee, Tel:
2262-2269; Email: ashok_vajpeyi@yahoo.com;
Secretary: Narendra Shrivastava, Heritage
Resource Centre ; Tel: 2272-1093 ; Email:
narendra98@hotmail.com
13. Invitation to Participate : Philanthropists, business
houses, social organisations and individuals interested in
participating in this unique progressive project are invited
to get in touch with us. Those interested in setting up
colleges will have to apply for built space based on their
need. If their proposal is approved, they will be required
to deposit the amount in instalments based on the
progress of the development of the campus. If they
need, HUDCO can offer them loan finance.
14. Promoting India Education Centres at other Places:
Based on the experience gained, HUDCO can support
development of similar India Education Centres in other
cities and villages. HUDCO invites individuals and
endowments interested in promoting such centres to get
in touch with it. The title “India Education Centre” cannot be
used without the consent of HUDCO. We will appreciate
suggestions for refining this initiative.
SK Sharma, President
India Education Centre
Dr PS Rana
CMD, HUDCO
New Delhi, April 2004