Latest News & Events


15th June ' 2011: The Education Megaproject ( Presentation & Cover Letter ) was handed over personally to Dr. Narendra Jadhav ( Member Education , Planning Commissioner by our Trustee & Project Designer, Mr. Ashish Puntambekar.

The Meeting took place at the Maharashtra Economic Development Council HQ at Nariman Point in Mumbai.

Dr. Jadhav has assured us that the Project will receive his full attention for inclusion in the XIIth plan and that he will get back to the Nataraja Foundation for clarifications if any.

25th May 2011 :Letter sent to Planning Commission . In response to E-Mail From Dy. Chairman , Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia , requesting the inclusion of the Education Megaproject in the XIIth , Five Year Plan.

As the Education Megaproject represents the aspirations of 126 Million Children, 80 % of whom come from the most backward areas, the Planning Commission was requested to include the project in its XIIth Plan approach  documents.
Significantly, given the past apathy in the Ministry of HRD, this time, over 20 Govt of India Information officers, Including 6 Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission were included in the address list. This has been done so that from now on the Education Megaproject’s progress within government will be monitored under the Right To Information ( RTI ) Act. 

4th December 2010 : Letter to Member Education, Planning Commission , based on advice from Dy. Chairman , Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia
A letter was sent to Dr. Narendra Jadhav ( Member Education ) explaining the salient features of the Education Megaproject .

1st October 2010 : Project Presentation at BJP Governance Council Meeting with 4 Education Ministers of BJP Ruled States Present

On the 20th of September’ 2010 , The Education Megaproject achieved a major breakthrough  when the Nataraja Foundation received an invitation from Mr. Nitin Gadkari ( BJP President ), to present the Education Megaproject at the Governance Council Meeting of the BJP in New Delhi on the 1st of October 2010.

Accordingly, the project was presented to Senior BJP Members of Parliament and 4 Education Ministers of the BJP Ruled States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. The senior leaders present represented  116 sitting elected Members of Parliament ( Lok Sabha ).
By the end of the meeting, the Megaproject was able to secure the support of 116 Members of Parliament ( Lok Sabha ) . This means that the project is already backed by 21 % of the Elected  Members of the Indian Parliament.
Two BJP Ruled states out of the four named above, expressed an interest in the Education Megaproject and discussions have been initiated with them for the setting up of Pilot projects.

16th September 2010 : Project Receives First Formal Acknowledgement from Dy. Chairman , Indian Planning Commission
On the 16th Of September ‘ 2010 , the Education Megaproject, received its first formal response from Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy Chairman , Indian Planning Commission. Those Interested can download this response along with 26 other senior responses ( Mr. Ratan Tata & Mr. Mukesh Ambani  and other senior people) , from our Mass Education Project Page.

2nd April ‘ 2010 : Release of Revision 03 (Rev 03) of " The Indian Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject "

Rev 03 of the Education Megaproject was sent to Shri Kapil Sibal ( Minister of HRD ) and the National Knowledge Commission.
The current revision is a generation ahead of Rev 02 on account of its very different financial structuring and its 25 design criteria. It has already evoked a huge response from the media and from educational institutions and think tanks around the country. It is expected that this project will set a new benchmark in project design for education projects around the world.

The project’s principal objective is to create adequate human resources to sustain a US $ 4.3 Trillion economy in India by 2025 ( assuming an 8 % GDP growth rate ) , based on a “ Teacher Centric “ model. In Rev 03, project size has been increased to cover a total of 420,000 existing government schools ( double the size of Rev 02 ) under a teacher sharing programme . Current project capital cost therefore stands at US $ 131.38 Billion. Yearly operational costs from 2025 onwards would be US $ 42.57 Billion. The financing plan however provides for the raising of this money with minimal financial support from the government of India and without any need for diversion of funds from currently planned education budgets. Construction of the first phase will start in 2012 and all the 30,000 new schools are expected to be commissioned by 2023.

Visitors are encouraged to download the project concept document and all other project related files including detailed calculations which are available for free download from the        “ Mass Education Project ” page.

15th November‘ 2009: Amar Chitra Katha distribution experiment at the Vatsalya Trust ( institution for girls )

The foundation made a beginning with its “ Amar Chitra Katha distribution project “ at Sanpada in Navi Mumbai with the distribution of 38, specially selected , Amar Chitra Katha comics to the children at the Vatsalya Foundation institution for destitute girls.
The project seeks to create a love for history and pride in Indian culture and values in young minds.The Nataraja Foundation believes that by putting children in touch with their rich heritage we can bring about a renaissance which will be a source of infinite strength in young children especially girls. Stories of Panna and Hadi Rani , Mira Bai , Ahilyabai Holkar and Jhansi Ki Rani , we believe, will go a long way in making Indian girls more self-reliant and mentally strong.

If this experiment is successful , we will we will continue the experiment at several other  institutions across Maharashtra over the coming months and years.
02nd October‘ 2009: Launch of the Indian Education Megaproject within the Ministry of HRD

Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of HRD, Govt of India, was formally contacted 5 months after the project was first submitted to the National knowledge commission.

Between 24th April and 02nd October ‘ 2009 , some 8000 senior people in government and academia had visited the project website . The entire project along with its financials and executive summary were also made available for free download from the Nataraja website. Over 800 Indian journalists and 80 foreign journalists were also contacted.

24th April‘ 2009: Initial Launch of the Indian Education Megaproject within the National Knowledge commission / Planning Commission

India’s largest Post Primary and Secondary Education Project was first proposed as a Public Private Partnership ( PPP ) initiative to the National Knowledge Commission on the 24th of April ‘ 2009.

The project when fully commissioned in 2023 would be the worlds largest education project which would make it possible to provide high quality, basic education, free of cost to 126 million children without any long term financial commitments from government of India. A total of 30,000 new , “ Teacher Centric Schools “ would be set up in 4 phases under the project documents. 24,500 of these new schools would be day schools and 4500 schools would be fully residential schools. 80 % of these schools will be in rural areas.

The project would, in addition, also be the world’s largest environmental project as it would deploy ideas in sustainable architecture from the Auroville and Laurie Baker Schools. The net Investment Multiplier effect of this US $ 131.38 Billion project within the Indian Economy would be US $ 300 Billion by 2023.