Vasudev Devnani is an Indian politician from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

serving as the speaker of the

Rajasthan Legislative Assembly The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, also known as the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, is the unicameral legislature of the state of Rajasthan. It is a vital part of the state government, responsible for making and implementing laws. The assembly meets ...

. He is also an MLA from Ajmer North. He is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. Vasudev Devnani is the first Sindhi to become speaker in Rajasthan assembly.

Life and career

Vasudev Devnani was born in

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

on 11 January 1950. He received

B.E. A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...

degree in Electrical Engineering from one of the finest and oldest colleges, MBM Engineering college, Jodhpur. After that he went on to an academic career, eventually becoming the Dean of Vidhya Bhawan Polytechnic College in

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

. He is married to Indira Devnani, a retired school teacher. The couple have one son and two daughters.Famous Sindhi Educationist & Politician: Prof. Vasudev Devnani
Sundu World, retrieved 2015-04-05.

Political career

Devnani joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS) at a young age and later its student wing

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

(ABVP), serving as the Rajasthan state president of the latter for nine years. Subsequently, he joined the

(BJP). Devnani was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan from the Ajmer North constituency in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, obtaining 45% of the total votes. He was elected again in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

.My Bio-data: Vasudev Devnani
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, retrieved 2015-04-05. He was a Minister of State for technical education in the Ministry of

Vasundhara Raje Vasundhara Raje Scindia (born 8 March 1953) is an Indian politician, who has held two terms as the chief minister of Rajasthan. She was previously a minister in the Union Cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was India's first Minister of Small ...

in 2003-08. He was a Minister of State with an independent charge for primary and secondary education in the Ministry of

in 2013-18.Rajasthan Government - Council of Ministers
Rajasthan Government, retrieved 2015-04-05.Raje's will writ large on expansion, detractors cut to size
The Times of India, 28 October 2014.

Political and administrative views

According to

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

, he is striking a balance between modernity, essential reforms and the BJP agenda of Indian culture-based education.Who is this saffron but progressive face of Raje government
India Today, 4 February 2015. He plans to introduce Rajasthan heroes such as

Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I (9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), popularly known as Maharana Pratap (), was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 1597. He is notable for leadi ...

in the school textbooks, correcting the alleged "anti-Hindu agenda" of the previous

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

government. 186 new Model Schools are being named after

Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figure in th ...

. Among his measures are celebrating Basant Panchami in schools, singing Saraswati vandana and performing

surya namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar or Salute to the Sun (, ), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th century, though s ...

every day. However, his measures to introduce compulsory Saraswati puja and surya namaskar have invited opposition from the schools run by the

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

, Muslim community and the Christian missionaries.Govt and private schools to observe Saraswati puja on Basant Panchami
The Times of India, 24 January 2015.Surya Namaskar made compulsory in 48,000 schools in Rajasthan
The Times of India, 4 February 2015. Devnani declared that the "Indian value system" would be introduced in schools from 2015-16. He called for a National Education Regulatory Board for the fast implementation of the Indian value system in schools nationwide.Yoga, moral science to be taught in schools from next year: Minister
The Times of India, 19 January 2015. In April 2015, Devnani hit the headlines with stories that reported that

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

and

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

are being eliminated from the school textbooks.Akbar, Newton may make way for ‘local heroes’ in Rajasthan textbooks
Indian Express, 7 April 2015.
Firstpost, 7 April 2015. "Why should our children only learn about Akbar, the Great? Why not Maharana Pratap, the Great?" he reportedly asked. "Our children are constantly learning about foreign rulers, mathematicians, scientists et al." These "foreign" scientists and intellectuals are being eliminated in favour of "local and national" heroes, Veer Savarkar,

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...

Maharaja Suraj Mal Maharaja Suraj Mal (13 February 1707 – 25 December 1763), simply known as Suraj Mal, was a ruler of Bharatpur State in the present-day state of Rajasthan. Under him, Bharatpur State, a tributary of the House of Scindia, covered the prese ...

Aryabhata Aryabhata ( ISO: ) or Aryabhata I (476–550 CE) was the first of the major mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the '' Āryabhaṭīya'' (which mentions that in 3600 ' ...

and Bhaskaracharya. In March 2016, Devnani announced that "major changes" were being made in the school curriculum, by including the biographies of freedom fighters, so as to ensure that "no one like

Kanhaiya Kumar Kanhaiya Kumar (born January 1987) is an Indian political activist who served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union and leader of the All India Students Federation (AISF). He served as National Executive Council m ...

" would be born again. In view of the events at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, he said that it was necessary to inculcate a "feeling of patriotism" in the students.http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/books-to-be-changed-so-that-no-one-like-kanhaiya-kumar-is-born-rajasthan-minister-1288390
NDTV News, 18 March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devnani, Vasudev 1948 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Rajasthan Rajasthani people Rajasthan MLAs 2013–2018 Rajasthan MLAs 2003–2008 Rajasthan MLAs 2008–2013 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members People from Ajmer Rajasthan MLAs 2018–2023 Rajasthan MLAs 2023–2028 Speakers of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

Life and career

Political career

Political and administrative views

See also

References