September 11, 2018
Vivek Tirtha – A tribute to the great saint
Vivek Tirtha, named after Swami Vivekananda, has been planned to be one of the premier institutes of the country, comprising of a centre for value education, a school of languages, a computer institute, a digital library and more. It is being set up in New Tow. The formal name of the place is Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centre for Human Excellence and Social Sciences.
This top-class centre of education is being set up on land given by the Trinamool Congress Government. In fact, it was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had laid the foundation stone of the institute, on November 11, 2014, and had also named it ‘Vivek Tirtha’.
The project will cost about Rs 172 crore. Five acres has been allotted beside Eco Park.
The centre will have a 10-storey building to house the administrative office, seminar halls and an auditorium, with a capacity of 1,400. The main building will be designed after the Chicago Art Institute, where Swami Vivekananda had delivered his famous speech on September 11, 1893.
There will be four other buildings, to be named after four famous foreign disciples of Swami Vivekananda – Sister Nivedita, JJ Goodwin, Ole Sara Bull and Josephine McLeod.
An important feature of the programmes proposed to be offered by the Centre of Human Excellence include a retreat for professionals and people from all walks of life like sweepers, rickshaw pullers, labourers and shopkeepers. There will also be a course on citizenship training and value education for government and corporate employees. There will be courses on how to overcome fear and failure.
