History

A great visionary and social worker, Pandit Shivharsh Upadhyay was born in Basti district on 3rd April, 1908, at village- Bhainsahia, Post- Doodhaura, in an ordinary family. He was the second son among the three sons and two daughters of his father Shri Dhodhi Ram Upadhyay and mother Mrs. Lakhraji Devi.

In 1929, Pandit Shivharsh Upadhyay started his married life with Parvati Devi and was blessed with two sons, Shiv Murti Upadhyay and Shiv Prakesh Upadhyay, and a daughter Sumitra.As a promising student, Shivharsh Upadhyaya completed his primary education from Deliya Primary School, Basti, and passed the High School and Intermediate examination in first class from ASH & GRS Inter College, Pakka Bazar, Basti. Later on, due to hindrance in further education, he joined the job of District Physical Culture Superintendent of Scout, in guidance of Daulatram Asthana ji, an enlightened philanthropist and talented personality. As per his interest in scout as well as sports, he was nominated to the post of General Secretary of District Sports Association, Member of Uttar Pradesh Sports Control Board Executive and Vice President of Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association, whose dignity he handled very efficiently.The educational backwardness of Basti district used to stir the mind of late Shri Upadhyay Ji. So, he pioneered to setup various educational institutions in Basti. He established the first college of the district as Kisan Intermediate College, Basti. He established, the first Arts and Science Faculty College in Basti district, Kisan P.G. College, in 1956; and Mahila P.G. College, in 1967 for the higher education of girls. After the establishment of diverse educational institutions, he founded the Kisan Training (L.T.) College in 1971, (B.Ed. College since 1999), to overcome the shortage of skilled trained teachers and make education employable. Hiralal Ramnivas Degree College, Khalilabad and Krishak Degree College, Gaur, Basti, were established with the inspiration of late Shri Upadhyay ji. He was the life member of the Executive of the College. He was also nominated as a member of Awadh University, Executive Committee, Faizabad for his dedication and hard work towards education.

Apart from the area of education, Mr. Upadhyay was also associated with various institutions of the Cooperative Department. He also chaired/held various posts in different bodies viz: Member of Executive, Uttar Pradesh Government Sugarcane Committee, Lucknow; first Director, Uttar Pradesh Land Mortgage Bank, Lucknow; Director, Regional Cooperative Union Limited, Lucknow; Managing Director, District Cooperative Bank Union Limited, Basti; Honorary Minister, District cooperative Federation, Lucknow; Member, Board of Directors, District Sugarcane Committee, Basti; Member of  Executive, Indian Central Sugarcane Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi; Member, All India Congress Committee, New Delhi; Secretary, District Congress Committee, Basti and Member of Legislative Council, Uttar Pradesh, Gorakhpur-Basti Local Bodies Area.

After working for the promotion of social service and education throughout his life, his dream of spreading the light of education in Basti district was left incomplete, due to his unfortunate and sad demise on 31st July 1980. We lost a sincere, diligent, glorious and divine personality of Basti. Pt. Shivharsh Upadhyay will be remembered by the posterity for his precious contribution in the promotion of education in Purvanchal.