Gyan Prakash Chopra (1920-2011) was an Indian educationist, credited with the establishment of several educational institutions in India. A recipient of the Padma Shri in 1999, he was honored again by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, in 2010, with the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the field of education.

Biography

G. P. Chopra was born in 1920, in the pre-independence India. After graduating in English Literature, he joined

Murray College Government Murray College Sialkot, (GMC Sialkot) often referred to as Murray College, formerly known as Scotch Mission College, is a government college located in Sialkot in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It was established by the Scottish missio ...

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, in the present day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, as a lecturer. After the Indian independence and

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, he moved to New Delhi and joined

Hans Raj College Hansraj College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, in Delhi, India. The departments of Hansraj college includes science, liberal arts and commerce. History The was founded on 26 July 1948 in memory of the prominent Indian ...

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

and taught at the college till his retirement from teaching service. Gyan Prakash Chopra was the President of DAV network of institutions, a 123-year-old non governmental organization focused on education. During his period, he was successful in establishing over several DAV educational institutions across the country, including the rural and tribal areas of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

and

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

DAV network

DAV network of institutions is an education-focused group, started in 1886, which runs over 700 educational institutions in various parts of the country, with a student strength of about one million. The group witnessed growth during Chopra's reign as the President of the Managing Committee. The first of the DAV schools was started in 1885, followed by the establishment of the DAV Trust and Management Society, a year later. The movement, founded by

Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the book ...

, at various points of time, involved many notable personalities such as Mahatma Hans Raj, Mehr Chand, Lala Balraj, Justice Mehar Chand Mahajan, Dr. G. L. Dutta, Lala Suraj Bhan, Prof Ved Vyas, Darbari Lal, T. R. Tuli, G. P. Chopra and Punam Suri.

Awards and recognitions

- 2010 *

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, ...

- 1999 * Qimpro Platinum Standard - 2009 * Delhi Ratna — All India Conference of Intellectuals * Distinguished Fellow — Foundation for Unity of Religions and Enlightened Citizenship (FUREC)

External links

* New year Message - 2009 by G. P. Chopra on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

* Documentary on G. P. Chopra

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, G. P. 1920 births 2011 deaths People from Sialkot Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 20th-century Indian educational theorists Founders of Indian schools and colleges People from Punjab Province (British India)