Relief to Sonam Wangchuk, Sambit Patra-Ravi Shankar’s member committee became the captain.

Sonam Wangchuk News: Big news has come out regarding activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was active in Ladakh, arrested under the National Security Act. A standing committee of the Parliament has praised the work of Wangchuk’s institute and asked for recognition by the UGC. The interesting thing is that this committee includes veteran BJP leaders like Sambit Patra, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Bansuri Swaraj as members. This report was recently presented in Parliament. The chairman of the committee is Congress MP Digvijay Singh. The report also expressed concern over HIAL not yet being recognized by the UGC.

According to the information, a committee of Parliament has highly appreciated the work of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL) established by Ladakh educationist and social activist Sonam Wangchuk. The committee has said that HIAL is doing excellent work and it should be recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). This report was recently presented in Parliament. The chairman of the committee is Congress MP Digvijay Singh. In the report, concern has been expressed over HIAL not yet being recognized by the UGC. This 30-member committee has also suggested the Education Ministry to study the education model of HIAL in depth and, if needed, consider implementing it in other parts of the country through education innovation centers or other schemes.

Committee members were affected

According to the report, during the committee’s visit to Ladakh, the members were impressed by the environment of study, research and entrepreneurship at HIAL. In particular, experience-based education, studies related to local society, culture and environment are being successfully implemented here. The committee also said that HIAL has made a deep positive impact on the local community and has also gained international recognition due to innovations like the Ice Stupa. The report acknowledged that HIAL well embodies the objectives of the New Education Policy 2020 (such as project-based learning, community participation and Indian knowledge traditions).

What instructions to UGC?

The report clearly states that UGC should seriously consider giving recognition to HIAL and its model can be adopted in other areas of the country also. It is noteworthy that Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in September after violent protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and the Sixth Schedule. The government had accused him of inciting violence. Additionally, the Ladakh administration had canceled the allotment of land given to HIAL and the Union Home Ministry had also canceled the FCRA registration of the organization citing alleged rule violations.