Sidhwan Group of Institutions caters to edu of girls in rural areas

Way back in 1909, when girls were “not needed” in families, Bhai Narain Singh and his wife Mata Ram Kaur started teaching four girls under a mulberry tree in Sidhwan Khurd village.

It was the hard work of the couple and their lone daughter’s vision that today the Sidhwan Group of Institutions include Khalsa College for Women (multidisciplinary - affiliated with Panjab University, Chandigarh), GHG Harparkash College of Education for Women (Education College Bed/MeD - affiliated with Panjab University, Chandigarh), GHG Institute of Law (affiliated with Panjab University, Chandigarh), GHG Public Senior Secondary School, affiliated with CBSE and Sikh Girls Senior Secondary School, affiliated with the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB).

This July onwards, the Trust running the Institutes, maintained that the GHG Institute of Pharmacy, affiliated with PTU, would also start functioning.

One of the trustees of the Sidhwan Group of Institutions, Dr GS Grewal, said there were total 3,000 students in all these institutes and a majority of them were girls coming from around 100 nearby villages. There are a total of seven members of the Trust ,including the Chairman of the group.

A visit to the institutes revealed that the institutes were spread in about 70 acres, belonging to Bhai Narain Singh and Mata Ram Kaur, who had a son. At the age of nine, he drowned in the village pond. The couple also had a daughter Bibi Harparkash Kaur who, after being educated, became MLA and was the first recipient of Padma Shri of United Punjab in 1961. The honour was bestowed upon her by the then President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad. Since Harparkash Kaur also lost her husband and both children, she came back to Sidhwan Khurd and started helping her parents in providing education to the girls of the village and surrounding areas.

On May 29, 1909, Bhai Narain Singh set up a small informal school, which flourished into a Primary School in 1912. Then came Shri Guru Hargobind Kanya Middle Pathshala in 917 and finally upgraded to Sikh Girl’s High Schoolin 1934. By 1937, the school earned a good reputation and on May 11, 1937, Bhai Narain Singh was awarded the titles of “Sardar Sahib” and “Kaier-i-Hind” by the British Government for the contributions towards girls’ education. The medals are still lying in the institute.

Notable alumni of the Sidhwan institutes include Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former Chief Minister of Punjab, Sonia Sidhu, who is presently a member of the House of Commons of Canada and the Saini sisters, leading hockey players from Punjab.

Baldeep Kaur, an old woman in the village, said girls were coming from many adjoining villages to study here. “Many villagers, reluctant to send their girls to the city for education, feel satisfied that at least an institute is there where their young daughters can go and get education. The atmosphere is very cozy where we can directly talk to the Principal and teachers and we feel safe for our girls,” said the woman.