South Konkan Education Society will celebrate its platinum jubilee on its campus in Tilakwadi in the city from December 21 to 24.
Former Minister R.V. Deshpande, a former student of the society, will inaugurate the celebrations on Saturday. Registered alumni will visit the S.K.E campus and take a walk down memory lane. Society vice-president Kiran Thakur will release a souvenir. Games will be organised for the alumni.
‘Lakh Lakh Chanderi’, a cultural programme directed by Sandhya Deshpande, will be held on the Saturday evening. A ‘Mr. and Ms. S.K.E.’ pageant is also planned. Food stalls and an exhibition-cum-sale will be organised. Marathi actor Subodh Bhave and Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, also an alumnus, will speak on Sunday. The valedictory function will be held on December 24.
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The society plans to construct a swimming pool, badminton courts, an auditorium and a museum in memory of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as part of the jubilee celebrations.
Society chairman R.D. Shanbhag told journalists on Thursday that the society, founded in the 1940s, was based on Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Swadeshi educational institutions. Bimba Nadakarni, chairperson of platinum jubilee celebration committee, also spoke.
The society’s first educational institution, Rani Parvati Devi College, named after its first patron member, the late Queen of Sawantwadi, was started in 945 at Savantwadi. The college relocated to Belagavi in 1948.
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Raja Patwardhan of Jamkhandi donated land in the quiet suburb of Tilakwadi, where the society has its headquarters. The campus has many trees, a mango grove, a botanical garden with flowerbeds, and a large playground. In 1966, RPD College was bifurcated into Rani Parvati Devi College of Arts and Govindram Seksaria Science College. Today, the society has over 7,500 students in its primary schools, high schools, colleges, and postgraduate centre.