EMERGENCE, AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE TRUST

• EMERGENCE :

  The rising of Sarvoday Charitable Trust in a small village of just 7000 people was as miraculous as capturing the Sun in a tiny dew drop.... The Trust was established in 1988 by a few members of an enlightened family of Shri Mathurdas Gulabchanddas Shah who were gifted with divine madness of kindling a flame of knowledge amidst the strong breeze of ignorance and illiteracy in one of the most backward districts of Gujarat called Panchmahals. The Trust, which began with a capital of mere rupees three hundred, has now assets worth rupees three Crores. This is indeed phenomenal....The soil of the village called Kakanpur and the spirit of some dedicated sons of the soil made this miracle happen.....

• AIMS :

  As it is said in the Bhagwad Geeta, the deed you start with pious intention ends in pious result...... The aim behind the emergence of this trust seems to have its roots in one of Tagore's most known poems of Geetanjali where the Gurudev sings :

  Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,
  Where knowledge is free;
  Where reason has not lost its way into dreary desert sand of dead habits,
  Where the world has not been broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls..
  Into that heaven of Freedom, my Father, let my country awake........

  The trust had an apparent aim to educate and enlighten the poor, needy, helpless and hapless people of the Panchmahals by kindling the flame of knowledge through a number of educational institutions so that nobody ever suffers the infamy and insult of being uneducated and the blot of being backward ... so that the students after having taken education in these institutions can walk with their head high and can compete and combat any adverse situation.

• ASPIRATIONS :

  The trust had a number of aspirations ...... so the visionary people associated with this Trust dreamt of starting an Arts college in the first place. The faculty of commerce was soon added to the Arts faculty.... And then a number of other institutions added new feathers in the cap of the Trust, the details of which you will find in the following pages. At the moment, five such educational institutions are being run by the Trust and Two more are being dreamt... . The Trust is extremely keen to start Shri M.M. Shah C.P. Ed.College with all the facilities never offered before anywhere in the whole of the Panchamahals viz. Gymnasium with all the latest equipments, wonderful playgrounds, swimming pool and anything which any dream institute must have. The Trust is also very eager to start an S.N.M.Shah M.Ed College which is a rarity not only in the Panchmahals but also in the surrounding districts.

• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND THE LOCATIONS :

  There is something extraordinary about this little beautiful village Kakanpur which is situated on the bank of the river Mayo. There is a beautiful pond on one side of this village and on eastern side there is an old temple named Kankaneshvar Mahadev. According to Dr. Haribhai R. Godani, a well-known Archeologist and a scholar in Indian sculptures, the old name of this village was Kankavati as the fable (Lokokti) goes on. This old village may be a town in past. In support this belief, there are some old temples and icons of various designs which can be seen in this village and the surrounding area of this village which is 4 kms. far from the railway station Tuva (Timba) of Panchmahals district on Anand Godhra railway line. It is only 17 kms. away from Godhra- the capital city of the Panchmahals on Ahmedabad-Dakor- Indore highway, or on Godhra- Dakor - Ahmedabad road. It is 140 kms. away from A'bad Airport or 100 kms. away from Vadodara Airport. The State Transport Service and the Private Transport is also available from Ahmedabad - Baroda - Dakor and Godhra.
  As is said earlier, the village and its surrounding area have a historical backround. Just at a distance of 4 kms from Kakanpur, a little village called Tuva stands with another Phenomenal water streams of cold and hot water together. The Hedamba Van - the forest of Hedamba, which is one of the most exciting episodes of The Mahabharat, is not far from the soil of this land. The great singer Baiju Bawara belonged to the Panchmahals... . The great Saint Rang Avadhutji was born in Godhra.

• ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE TRUST :

  In the shadow of this historical background, Sarvoday Charitable Trust emerged to create a new history which the people of this country will cherish to learn, remember and ruminate for years to come. This little village is now shaping itself as a little town of big importance. The village has a small bazaar where almost everything is available. Before the emergence of Sarvoday Charitable Trust, there was another Trust called Vikas Mandal under the banner of which a Referral Hospital-Cum-Community Health Center with air-conditioned operation theatre and the Quarters for the staff is being run by the government. The same Mandal with almost the same people who are now associated with Sarvoday Charitable Trust runs an educational institution called The M.G.Shah High School for the last 50 years and also A.V.Shah Primary School for 28 years. There is also Shri N.M.Shah Balmandir promoted by the grand father of the member of the family who started this Trust. There are about 3500 students, which is the half of the total population of the village coming to take education in these institutions from different surrounding areas and different parts of the state. The Panchmahals district even when it bears the blot of one of the most backward districts of Gujarat has wonderful water resources as there are nearly a dozen dams on different rivers, the river Mahi Sagar being the biggest and the longest river just 10 kms. away from Kakanpur. The donors, though not hailing from this village were kind enough to extend their helping hand to this Trust which is committed to turn this backward area into forward area by creating equal opportunities for the rural talent to compete the urban intellect mainly due to their attachment to this village and also due to their emotional association with the members of the Trust.
  After its establishment on 1-09-1988 the Trust has never looked back and went on and on building the temples of education one after another. The following list will unmistakably highlight the achievements of the trust in a small span of seventeen years.
  (a) Shri J.L.K. Kotecha Arts College in 1991
  (b) Smt. S.H.Gardi Commerece College in 1994.
  (c) Shree V.M.Shah Primary School in 1993
  (d) Smt. N.V.Shah Girls' High School in 1997.
  (e) Smt. K.C.M.Shah G.B.T.C. (Now known as B.Ed. Basic) College in 2003
  (with intake of 100 Students)
  (f) Shree V.M.Shah P.T.C. College in 2004.
  ( With intake of 150 Students)
  (g) Shri M.M. Shah C.P. Ed.College.
  (h) S.N.M.Shah M.Ed College.
  All these educational institutions have their own, newly built, specious buildings facing big grounds and facilitated with all the necessary requirements
  The B.Ed. and The P.T.C. Colleges have not only their wonderful buildings but also separate Girls' & Boys' hostels with attached toilet-bathroom, pressure water supply with censor facility, Solar hot water supply, big high watted generator to generate the electricity in the event of failure of power in the college campus. The most wonderful Dining hall you ever find anywhere in any institution based in a small village or even in big cities. The built up area of the Dining Hall is 3591 sq. ft. In the same way the B.Ed & P.T.C. colleges have a Multi purpose central hall of 2400 sq.ft. with a ready stage and sound system. Thus, all these educational institutions have a solid infrastructure.

• The people who visioned these institutions are.... :

  (1) Shri Ashvin C. Shah - President.
  (2) Shri Bharat R. Shah - Managing Trustee.
  (3) Shri Kiran N.Shah - Trustee.
  (4) Shri Niranjan V.Shah - Trustee.
  (5) Shri Hasmukhlal C.Shah - Trustee.
  (6) Shri Navinchandra M.Shah - Trustee.
  (7) Shri Girish R.Shah - Trustee.
  (8) Shri Pravinbhai V.Shah - Academic Counciler
  (9) Shri Rajnibhai C.Shah - Academic Counciler
  (10) Shri Dr. Bharat V.Shah - Head of the Nephrology
  Lilavati Hospital Bombay
  (11) Shri Maulin B. Shah - Campus Director.

  
  &
  Mathurdas Gulabchanddas Shah Family