Nonagenarian social crusader of Y’nagar

Shiv Kumar Sharma

“The hands that help us are holier than the lips that pray” — Robert Green Ingersoll, American politician

For human beings, pursuit of wealth and prosperity is a natural course. There are people who partake their growing wealth with society for general good. And there are a few who though born into abundance of riches wouldn’t indulge family wealth and instead dedicate their lives to serving society. Darshan Lal Jain (90) is a glowing example of the second kind.  

Jain dedicated his life to the welfare of society and his benign contributions are visible in various spheres of life. He is a crusader of education and has been working tirelessly for education to girls and poor children. He has also been working to establish the honour of our valiant kings and soldiers and freedom fighters, besides the revival of the Saraswati river.

He was born into an influential industrialist family of Yamunanagar district on December 12, 1927. Initially, he did take interest in the family business but eventually gave free course to his inclination towards social work. 

From his childhood days Jain was sharp minded and filled with the spirit of patriotism. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and during the British rule when there was a ban on khadi he was one of the few students in his school who wore khadi. He participated in the Quit India Movement at the tender age of 15. In 1943, he stood up alone in the prayer assembly at the school to oppose the headmaster's appeal to support the British war efforts.

He was one of the founder members of Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Jagadhri, that was established in 1954 and the founder secretary of DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar, the first girls’ college in the region that was set up in 1957.

Jain was imprisoned during Emergency from 1975 to 1977, and he declined the offer of the Central government for conditional release. 

He led the Bharat Vikas Parishad Haryana for about 20 years, Vivekanand Rock Memorial Society and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram Haryana for about 30 years, Hindu Shiksha Samiti Haryana for about 30 years and Geeta Niketan Residential School, Kurukshetra, in different capacities. The Hindu Shiksha Samiti is running about 100 schools in rural and remote areas of Haryana.

He established Nand Lal Geeta Vidya Mandir at Tepla village in Ambala district in 1997. The school is providing free education and boarding facility to poor but intelligent students belonging to Haryana, Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

Jain also revived Hindu High School at Nuh, leading to the opening of several new schools in the area. He established the Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan in 1999 and launched the project to revive the Saraswati river. Since then, he is engaged in bringing back the glory of the elusive holy river. 

Jain says that the Saraswati revival efforts gathered pace after Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed a Central advisory committee of eminent scientists under the chairmanship of Padma Shri KS Waldia, an eminent geologist, and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar established the Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board.

Suresh Pal, a retired principal and eminent social worker of Yamunanagar, says that Jain is still keenly working for the welfare of society and is an inspiration for the youth. He formed the Yodha Samarak Samiti in 2007 to commemorate the forgotten heroes of the nation. The samiti has organised a number of functions, including coronation ceremony of Hemchandra Vikrmaditya, the hero of the 2nd battle of Panipat.

Jain was never inclined towards joining active politics and he declined an offer of an MLC seat by the Jan Sangh in 1954. Later the NDA government headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee offered him governorship, but he again declined. He remained the RSS president of Haryana for about 40 years and relinquished the position in 2007 at the age of 80.

Even at the ripe age of 90 his resolve hasn’t weakened.