Santosh Choubey

Santosh Choubey is an Indian social entrepreneur and educationalist. He founded the All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) in 1985. He is chairman of AISECT and chancellor of the Rabindranath Tagore University along with being involved in various literary and cultural activities to promote Indian Hindi literature and art.

Early life and education

Born in 1955 in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, Santosh Choubey did his schooling from Government School Khandwa and completed his education with a bachelor's degree in electronics and telecommunication Engineering from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (NIT, Bhopal). Consequently, he also got selected into the Indian Engineering Services (1976) and the Indian Civil Services (1981). He made the decision of forgoing the civil services and pursuing his interest in the areas of Science and Technology and joined Bharat Electronics Limited (New Delhi). Later on, he worked with IDBI as a consultant in Bhopal.

Achievements, Basis for Nomination

Santosh Choubey's Exemplary Awards and Achievements


Poet, storyteller, novelist Santosh Choubey is among those rare literary figures in Hindi literature who are equally active in literature and science. He is a nationally acclaimed writer who has been actively contributing to Hindi literature in almost all forms both within and outside the country for the past forty years. His six story collections, four novels, and four poetry collections have been published and acclaimed. His stories have been staged at Bharat Bhavan and the National School of Drama, and they have been consistently published in all the leading newspapers and magazines of the country. His translations of essays by Terry Eagleton, Frederick Jameson, Walter Benjamin, Odysseus Elytis, and E.F. Schumacher have been widely read and appreciated. His three critical books 'Kala Ki Sangat', 'Apne Samay Mein', and 'Parampara Aur Adhunikta' have been published and honored, and he has also edited two books of intellectual prose, 'Aakhyaan Ka Antarik Sankat' and 'Kahani: Swapn Aur Yatharth'.




He has edited 'Vanmalisamgra' in two volumes focusing on Madhya Pradesh's top storyteller Vanmali. His edited anthology 'Katha Madhya Pradesh', centered around over two hundred storytellers of Madhya Pradesh, has gained nationwide recognition. In the same vein, on the global stage, he has edited a collection of stories 'Kathadesh' in eighteen volumes, featuring more than six hundred storytellers from across the country. Continuing in this sequence, under his editorship, anthologies of stories from Bhopal ('Katha Bhopal' in four volumes), 200 science fiction stories ('Vigyan Katha Kosh' in six volumes), and a collection of 200 scientific poems ('Vigyan Kavita Kosh' in three volumes) have been published. Currently, he is part of the editorial board of 'Samaavartan' and serves as the chief editor of 'Rang Sanvad', an interdisciplinary journal on drama and arts. The complete list of his published works is presented in Appendix-1.




Four books have been published that include comments, discussions, and articles by over 100 authors of the country, encompassing their works, which depict the breadth and impact of their oeuvre. Translations of their works have been done in English, Malayalam, Urdu, as well as in many other languages of the country, and also in foreign languages such as Russian and German.



Alongside literary writing, they have been continuously working for the popularization of Hindi literature for the past thirty years. In this regard, their notable achievements include the establishment of the Vanmali Katha Award for Hindi story and criticism, the establishment of Vanmali Creation Centers in over 140 towns and cities of the country, and the organization of the 'Vishwarang' Literature Festival at a global level, which has gained international recognition. With the advent of audio-video technology, they have also extensively worked on setting Hindi poetry to music through 'Kavitayatra' and transforming selected stories into dramatic form through 'Storytelling on Stage', which has been appreciated worldwide.



Santosh Choubey has actively participated in national and international conferences and seminars, notable among them being Kendriya Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Agra; Bhartiya Gyanpeeth, New Delhi; National Book Trust, New Delhi; Madhya Pradesh Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, etc. Recently, he participated in the establishment day celebration of the Vishwa Hindi Secretariat, Mauritius, where he shared the stage with the President and Prime Minister of Mauritius.



He has been honored with the Dushyant Kumar Award by the Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad for his poetry collection "Kahin Aur Sach Honge Sapne", the Spandan Criticism Award for "Kala Ki Sangat", the Hazarilal Raghavanshi Award by the Madhya Pradesh Official Language Promotion Committee for the translation of "Moscow Diary", and the Shailsh Matiyani Award by the Madhya Pradesh Official Language Promotion Committee for his novel "Jaltarang". He has also received the International Valley of Words Award and the National Dr. Shivmangal Singh Suman Award, as well as the Abhinav Word Artist Award for his overall literary contributions. He has been awarded the Vatayan U.K. International Summit Award for his contribution to literature. For his scientific writing, he has received the Meghnad Saha Award from the Government of India, the National Science Promotion Award from the Government of India, the Dr. Shankardayal Sharma Award from the Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy for his overall scientific writing, the Indian Innovation Award by the President, the NASSCOM IT Innovation Award, and the prestigious IT for Development Award by the Asian Forum.



For his social entrepreneurship, he has received the prestigious Schwab Foundation Award at the international level and the Senior Ashoka Fellowship. The list of selected awards is presented in Annexure-1.2.



Santosh Choubey, selected for the Indian Engineering Services and the Indian Administrative Services, currently serves as the Chancellor of Dr. C.V. Raman University (Bilaspur, Vaishali, and Khandwa) and Rabindranath Tagore University (Bhopal), and is the Chairman of the AISECT Network, State Resource Center, Vanmali Creation Center, and Tagore International Literary and Cultural Center.

Career

He founded All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) in 1985. The organisation became a registered society in 1997. AISECT group operates in 28 states and 4 Union Territories. AISECT is involved in various sectors including education, skill development, financial inclusion, CSR implementation, universities, online service provider etc. Over the years under the direct supervision of Choubey, AISECT has established a network of 23,000+ service delivery centres across the country. These end mile service delivery centres provide most of the services of AISECT group in rural and semi-urban areas creating thousands of entrepreneurs and serving millions of citizens of the country.

AISECT initiatives

AISECT organized the AISECT Women Achievers Summit 2016 on the occasion of International Women's Day, focussing on women's entrepreneurship. According to Choubey, the organization has always encouraged women to be a part of the professional world and has actively supported women's entrepreneurship ever since its launch three years ago. A large number of women entrepreneurs are a part of AISECT and are operating their centres successfully. Women constitute around 50 percent of the workforce at AISECT. AISECT plans to continue to empower women in the future. During the concluding session of the summit, film actress and theatre artist Tisca Chopra and Jayshree Kiyawat (director, National Rural Health Mission) felicitated some of the most successful women entrepreneurs of AISECT as well as prominent women achievers of Bhopal for their distinguished work.

AISECT Group of Universities

Choubey has established a number of educational institutions and universities mostly in rural areas. The first AISECT group of universities was established in 2006 at a village named Kota in the Bilaspur district of Naxal affected Chhattisgarh state. Named after the C V Raman the Dr. C.V. Raman University is the first private university in central India. The university has more than 10,000 on-campus students studying in various streams. AISECT established four more universities in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand named as Rabindranath Tagore University-Bhopal, Dr. C.V. Raman University, Bihar, AISECT University, Jharkhand and Dr. C.V. Raman University, Khandwa.

Awards

For his work in Literature & Skilling he has received multiple awards like :
* Centenary Award 2024
* Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Science Promotion Award 2024
* Maghnad Saha Award 1987

Dushyant Kumar Award
1986
* Shankar Dayal Sharma Srijan Award 2005
* Rajbhasha Prachar Samiti Award 2009
* Indian Innovation Award 2005
* NASSCOM IT Innovation Award 2006
* Asian Forum i4D Award 2007
* NASSCOM Emerge 50 Leader Award 2009
* Rashtriya Rajbhasha Samman Award 2009
* Social Entrepreneur of the Year (Finalist) Award 2010
* Bharat Gaurav Award 2024
* World Hindi Summit Award 2024
* Social ENTREPRENEUR Of The Year 2010
* Ashoka Senior Fellowship Award 2011
* Life Time Achievement Award 2013
* SKOCH Renaissance Awards 2013
* Valley of Words (VOW) Award 2017
* Lifetime Achievement Award 2018
* Vaatayan International Shikhar Samman 2023

International and National Recognitions/Awards:

* International Summit Award from the U.K. (London) for Overall Literary Contribution.
* Summit Award from the Pandit Tilak Raj Sharma Trust (New York) for Overall Literary Contribution.
* International Valley of Words Award for the novel "Jalatrang," presented by authors Shri Lakshmishankar Bajpai and Tarun Vijay.
* National Innovation Award from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.
* National Dushyant Alankaran for Overall Literary Contribution.
* Chanakya Award 2022 from the former Higher Education Minister Shri Mohan Yadav.
* Dushyant Kumar Award from the Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Akademi for Poetry, presented by author Shri Naresh Mehta.
* Shaillesh Matiyani Award for the novel "Jalatrang," presented by Governor Shri O.P. Kohli.
* Hazari Lal Raghuwanshi Award from the Madhya Pradesh Rajbhasha Prachar Samiti for the translation of "Moscow Diary" by Walter Benjamin, presented by Governor Shri Balram Jakhar.
* First Madhya Pradesh Ratna Award from the Madhya Pradesh Government and Public Relations Society.
* Dr. Shivmangal Singh Suman Smriti Samman for Lok Chetna in literature.
* Prof. Afak Ahmad Memorial Award-2021 (Hindi Literature).
* Abhinav Shabdshilpi Award from the Abhinav Kala Parishad for Overall Writing.
* Dr. Shankardayal Sharma Sajjan Samman from the Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy, presented by Mrs. Archana Chitnis.
* Draksharatna Alankaran for "Black Hole in the World of Dreams."
* Top Honor from "Sahitya ki Baat" (Vidisha) for Overall Literary Contribution.
* Lokchetna Award from Abhinav Kala Parishad for "Lokchetna" by Ashok Jain Bhabha.
* Utkrisht Charchit Chehra Award from the Dushyant Sangrahalay.
* Bharatiya Sanskriti Ratnam 2017 Award from Shodh Sansthanam.
* Recognition in Literature and Education from the 8th All India Rajbhasha Sammelan (Central Bank).
* Spandan Award for Art Criticism.

Articles:

Winning Stroke: Interview With Santosh Kumar Choubey, Founder AISECT

AISECT-Group Leading in education, skills and entrepreneurship

Santosh Choubey (Book Author) - Penguin Random House India
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जन्मदिन विशेषः संतोष चौबे, होना कवि इस दुःसह समय में



Technology is at the heart of empowered India, says Santosh Choubey

Shri Santosh Choubey Launches New Essay Collection ‘Kahani Ka Raasta

CSIR Event speech

Honoured in Newyork

Pathbreakers: Santosh Kumar Choubey and how he bridged the IT literacy gap

Development of Technical Education in Hindi is the Future: Santosh Choubey

Videos:

AISECT Journey


Computer Ek parichay 40th edition


4th Samarth Bharat Conclave

North East Samarth Bharat Conclave

Vishwarang 2022

Kavita Yatra

WES 2017, Dubai

CSC SPV speech

Chancellor Dr. C V Raman University
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Sahitya Sootr Interview

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choubey, Santosh
Living people
1955 births
Indian company founders
People from Khandwa
20th-century Indian businesspeople
21st-century Indian businesspeople
Indian social entrepreneurs