Principal Movers behind the Initiative called IURC

As noted above, this is an initiative of Inter-University Research Centre (IURC), and IURC in turn is a platform floated by Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU). Being a part of CIU, IURC is sponsored by almost all the top universities and university level institutions in India.
But the faces behind this initiative also deserve to be noted. Getting to know this initiative, in some ways, would be incomplete without getting to know the people who have visualized this platform, people who have spent countless hours creating the blueprint, agenda, organizational structure etc needed to achieve what we intend to achieve, those who spared no effort to reach out to like-minded people, in India as well as in the world outside.
Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, President of CIU and founding Chairman of IURC, is the soul behind this initiative. It is he who incubated the idea initially. Having developed the very broad outlines of the idea in his mind, he roped in the first few critical people, who worked under his guidance to develop the idea and to create a more detailed picture of the same.
It is he who provided, and continues to do even today, continuous support and encouragement to the first few people who were trying to work on this enormous problem statement. It is he who instilled the belief among the people around him that when good intentions combine with smart work and collaborative energy of large number of people, everything can be achieved.
He completed his undergraduate engineering (Bachelor of Engineering) from the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, India in the year 1973. Subsequently, he also did his M.Tech from the same institution. In the subsequent years, taking into account the importance of taking a managerial perspective of things, he also completed his MBA. Later on, when he developed a keen interest in the emerging field of human rights, he completed his Ph.D. in human rights, with specialization in conflict resolution.
He became involved in the field of institution building during 1977-78, when he laid the foundation of Indian Institute of Business Management (IIBM) at Patna, in collaboration with his close friend, Dr. Uttam Kumar Singh, who was also equally passionate about the cause of institution building.
The journey that started with the IIBM story never stopped. In fact, with every passing year, his passion in and commitment to the cause of finding solutions to ‘big problems of the day’ only increased in intensity. He has continuously drilled the motto of ‘Job giver, not seeker’ among all the students that pass out of any of the institutions founded / mentored by him.
In fact, very early on in his life, perhaps immediately after completing his engineering education, he realized that the only way a vast, densely populated country like India could ever provide good employment opportunities to all its citizens, is to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship among its people. He was one of the very first people who espoused the view that people of India are by nature entrepreneurial, even though Government of India, till quite recently, praised the virtues of an all-powerful, centrally planned, bureaucratically administered way of building the country.
Some of the other institutions founded / mentored by him include prestigious ones like Dr. Zakir Husain Institute for Non-Formal and Continuing Education (1980), Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology & Applied Nutrition (1980), Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment (1981), National Centre for Developmental Communication (1982), National Institute of Computer Education (1983).
He even started the practice of encouraging State Governments, especially from remote and relatively less developed regions, to nominate students from their jurisdictions to pursue high-end, job-oriented courses at the institutions under his control. Students from these institutions have gone on to occupy top positions in different public and private sector organisations in India as well as in other countries.
He was the first person in India to have advised the Government of India and the State Governments, way back in the year 1992, to allow the establishment of State Universities with external funding provided by public charities and philanthropic organisations. Towards this end, he has worked closely with State Governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir.
The Global Open University of Nagaland, established by the Government of Nagaland, and Indira Gandhi Technological & Medical Sciences University are shining examples of his vision, providing great service to the people of these states and beyond.

Dr. Sidharth Shankar has been rendering his services to Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) as Director (Operations), looking after the affairs of member universities located in the western states of India i.e. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadara & Nagar Haweli.
He completed his undergraduate and post-graduate studies from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi, one of the most prestigious universities of India. After completing his BA (1996-1999) & MA (1999-2001) in Germanic Studies, he worked for various companies in Information Technology (IT) space where he looked after the markets in Western Europe. Thereafter, he enrolled for MBA program (2007-08) from Icfai Business School, Hyderabad.
After completing his MBA, he went back to pursue his corporate career. Among his notable achievements during this period was raising the first of its kind TV channel in India, a channel located in the backward region of Bihar. This TV channel, Maurya TV, was promoted by noted film maker Mr. Prakash Jha. This was the first TV channel that provided unbiased, true reporting from Bihar, one of the most challenging geographical locations in India, a location with a history of endemic violence, plagued by extreme left wing inspired insurgency and above all, massive, indescribable poverty.
Before the establishment of Maurya TV, news from Bihar was all about murders, political corruptions and various other kinds of bureaucratic and social malpractices. Very few news channels had dedicated, full-time reporters in that state. And those that had, managed with just one person, who operated out of the state capital, but was expected to cover that vast state of around 80 million people, with an area almost as large as that of France or Germany.
For the first time, Maurya TV brought on to the television screens incredibly inspiring stories of ordinary people struggling to build their lives in an otherwise challenging environment. For the first time, people could now see wonderful stories of people doing ground-breaking work such as raising business organizations in an area dubbed by the established media houses as the graveyard of private enterprise.
This channel discovered and showcased multiple stories of people, rising against odds to build no-frills educational institutions that produced brilliant students who went on to make a mark for themselves in renowned institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Indian Institute of Management (IIMs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) etc.
During this period, while interacting with entrepreneurs and policy makers of the region, Dr. Shankar developed an interest in public policy. He realized that there was an urgent need for policy innovations if backward regions like Bihar were ever to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty, violence and recriminations. It was during that time that he started working closely with the State Government of Bihar. This experience of working with top policy makers helped him learn that, even in the ‘dead zone’ of Bihar’s politics and administration, there were people who were trying to make a difference.
Subsequently, after spending close to 5-6 years in corporate sector, he enrolled for PhD in Management from B.R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur. His Ph.D. was on the workings of Indian Railways and how big transportation projects like Indian Railways, if they are run properly, do make a significant difference to the developmental landscape of remote regions like Bihar.
After completing his PhD, Dr. Shankar started working with various political parties, NGOs and think tanks as policy researcher. During this period, he worked with prominent political personalities from all political hues. During this period, he also devised electoral campaigns for different political parties in the context of state and municipal elections.
While pursuing his policy research interests, in 2018, Dr. Shankar came in contact with Dr. Trivedi who encouraged him to work for the cause of education and to become an institution builder. Dr. Shankar found the approach of Dr. Trivedi extremely inspiring and accordingly, took the decision of joining CIU as a dedicated resource.
He nurtures ambition of helping IURC grow up to be a truly world-class institution specializing in research on issues affecting India and her immediate periphery.

Mr. Ritesh Shukla

 

Mr. Ritesh Shukla is a successful journalist in India, working for the largest Hindi language newspaper, called Dainik Bhaskar. He works in the editorial section, handling news sourcing from foreign countries. He also writes columns in the same newspaper. As part of his assignment, he also conducts interviews with leading international personalities like heads of states, celebrated academicians, business leaders, social reformers etc. Before his stint with the Hindi edition of the newspaper, he used to work as Chief Sub-Editor in the short-lived English language edition of the same group. That edition was called DB Post. It was the most successful English language tabloid in Central India. But, due to certain problems on the business front, DB Post had to be closed down around the time when India was hit by the first wave of Corona Virus.
Before joining Bhaskar Group as a journalist, for around a decade, Mr. Shukla worked as a project manager with some of the most important companies in the information technology space in India. As part of his assignment with those companies, he used to handle customers from Europe and North America.
Interestingly, for around 2-3 years after quitting his corporate career, and before joining Dainik Bhaskar as a journalist, Mr. Shukla had also served as a teacher in one of the Engineering Colleges in Bhopal. During that time, he also participated actively in the formation of the upcoming political party called Aam Aadami Party (AAP), whose convener, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal later went on to become the Chief Minister of Delhi.
However, due to differences with the leadership of the party, on the issue of course of action to be followed by the party in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Shukla ultimately severed his association with the party. Since then, he has never been associated with any political party on a formal basis.
Mr. Ritesh Shukla holds a Bachelor degree in German Language & Literature from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi. After completing his BA from JNU, he enrolled for an MA in English language from Barkatullah University, Bhopal. He also completed his LLB from the same university.
He also has interest in spirituality, and in occult sciences like astrology. In fact, he is widely respected as a very competent and insightful astrologer. He is often invited by religious organizations to participate in spiritual discourses and to talk on various spiritual and philosophical issues.
He is associated with CIU and IURC on an honorary basis, and provides assistance in research and outreach related initiatives of the organization. IURC believes that going forward, he is going to play a significant role in the realization of all the plans that have been prepared for the organization.
IURC is sure that it is only when many more people like Dr. Shankar, Mr. Shukla, and people even higher up in the competence ladder, join the organization, would it be truly able to effectively implement all its plans, and really make a difference. Therefore, like all good ancient shamans, invoking the spirits of ancestors and the power of divinity just before the troops marched into the battle field, IURC too would like to give a clarion call to all concerned, to come and join hands to make a difference to the future of humanity as a species surviving on the only known home, mother Earth.

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