As
a part of its continuing endeavour, Vidya Bhawan Rural Institute was established
in 1956 to impart quality education to the deprived sections of rural
India. Under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Education, Government of India,
it was conceived as one in the chain of institutes of rural higher education
started at various places in the country focusing on teaching, research and
extension to cater to the growing and fast emerging needs of the rural
community.
In
the beginning, Vidya Bhawan Rural Institute, Udaipur offered the following
courses:
-
Rural
Services Diploma Course, which was equivalent to graduate degree of any
Indian University.
-
Post-graduate
Course in Rural Sociology and Community Development.
-
Diploma
Course in Civil and Rural Engineering.
-
One
year Sanitary Inspector Course.
Due
to change in the policy of the Government of India and difficulties faced
regarding the recognition of the above mentioned courses, the Institute has
gradually converted itself into a Post-graduate college with distinguishing
features like Civil Engineering Department, Community Polytechnic Scheme,
Extension Service and Farm Training. The Institute introduced under- graduate
courses in Arts in 1964, in Science in 1968 and a post-graduate course in Rural
Sociology in 1965.
Considering
the special nature of this Institute and its infrastructure for extension
activities, the I.C.A.R. entrusted it with Lab to Land Programme. The
Directorate of Social Welfare of the Government of Rajasthan also entrusted the
training programme of Anganwadi Workers for intensive child development to the
Institute. Training programme of the Anganwadi workers is still continuing as an
integral part of the Institute to contribute in creating awareness regarding
child care, nutrition, health and hygiene among the rural women. With the
expansion in farm activities, V.B.R.I. submitted scheme for establishment of
separate Krishi Vigyan Kendra for training the farmers from the tribal block of
Udaipur district and thus, KVK came into existence in 1984. Polytechnic wing
also expanded with the addition of Mechanical, Electronics and Computer branches
and, therefore, the need was felt to develop it further as a separate wing and
accordingly Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic came into existence in 1995 as adjunct of
the Institute.
The
Institute has been trying to fulfill its responsibilities as an Institution of
higher education in spite of heavy odds. The last couple of years marked
rejuvenation and revival of the Institute with the addition of viable
professional and traditional courses that enhanced financial resources and
academic image and prestige of the Institute.
To
meet the growing demand for professional and job oriented courses, the Institute
started BBM, B.Sc. (Computer Science), B.C.A. and M.Sc. (Analytical Chemistry
and Organic Chemistry). The
Institute was a pioneer in launching the BBM programme in the entire state of
Rajasthan.
In
order to further fulfill the basic vision and objective of Vidya Bhawan for
making quality education accessible to those who can not pursue regular academic
programmes, the Study Centre of Indira Gandhi National Open University, New
Delhi was set up in 2003 offering a wide variety of professional, vocational,
certificate, diploma and degree courses. The work done by the Study Centre in
terms of quality students-service and efficiency has been recognized and
appreciated fairly well by the University as well as the students. |