Lalit Pande is an Indian social worker, environmentalist and the founder of Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre, a
non governmental organization promoting environmental education in the hilly areas of the Indian state of
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
.
Under the aegis of the organization, Pande is known to have introduced community educational programmes focused on environment and development
and supported over 200 community based organizations in the state.
The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
, in 2007, for his contributions to environmental education.
Biography
Lalit Pande was born in a socially known
Almora family to Vimla Pande and
Bhairav Dutt Pande, an
Indian Civil Service officer,
a 1972
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
recipient
and a former Governor of the states of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
and
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
.
His uncle, Vinod Pande, was also a former Governor and a Cabinet Secretary and his sister-in-law,
Mrinal Pande
Mrinal Pande (born 26 February 1946) is an Indian television personality, journalist and author, and until 2009 chief editor of Hindi daily ''Hindustan''.
Early life and education
Pande was born in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, 26 February 1946. ...
, is a
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
award winning journalist and the author of ''
The Other Country: Dispatches from the Mofussil''. His schooling was at
The Doon School
The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...
, the
Dehradun
Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...
based premier educational institution,
and graduated in Engineering from the
Indian Institute of Technology
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institu ...
, Delhi, in 1970.
Later, moving to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, he secured a master's degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT) in 1972.
Returning to India, he worked in various places, including at
Cadbury's, but shifted back to the US to pursue his doctoral studies and gained a doctoral degree (PhD) from
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
in 1982. Eschewing a regular job, he went to his ancestral town of
Almora, a hilly region in
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, in 1984, where he started a
non governmental organization, ''Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Paryavaran Shiksha Sansthan'' (USNPSS), ''Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi'' for short, to start his social career.
Securing a grant of 200,000 from the Government of India, under the New Education Policy of 1986, the organization functioned from a room at Pande's residence and worked for promoting environmental education in the state.
Over the years, they are reported to have been successful in introducing environmental education as a subject in the middle school curriculum of the state, which is related to the topics of ''food, fodder, water, trees, crops, soil, manure and rainfall''. They are also supporting over 300 pre-primary schools in the state.
The organization is associated with agencies such as
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
, in the matters related to environmental sustainability
and Pande serves as the director of the Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre. He is also involved with the other issues of social interest in the state.
The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
in 2007.
His alma mater, the
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...
, awarded him the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.
Pande is married to Anuradha, who is also involved in his social activities, attending to the women's forums of the Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi.
See also
*
List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
This list of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni includes students who studied as undergraduates or graduate students at MIT's School of Engineering; School of Science; MIT Sloan School of Management; School of Humanities, Arts, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pande, Lalit
Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields
The Doon School alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
IIT Delhi alumni
Purdue University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Almora district
Social workers from Uttarakhand
Indian environmentalists
Living people