National Council of Rural Institutes

Established on October 19th, 1995, National Council of Rural Institutes is an independent body which is funded by the HRD Department of the Government of India. The headquarters of the Institute is at Hyderabad. The main objective behind establishing this body was to promote and facilitate higher education in the rural areas to develop the livelihoods of the rural people. The institute aims at educating the rural people following the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi and his revolutionary concept namely “Nai Talim.

Objectives of National Council of Rural Institutes

NCRI helps the rural institutions, NGOs, Gandhian organizations, universities and other agencies in projects related to promotion higher education in rural areas. The body aims at objective of enhancing the support mechanisms for development in rural areas. It promotes institutions imparting education following the Gandhian pattern of education. Other objectives include teachers training, research and extension by communicating with prominent bodies like UGC, CSIR, AICTE etc., encouraging educational bodies and voluntary institutions to develop in compliance with Gandhian system of education, to devise varied courses at the tertiary level that helps in rural occupation, emphasise on science and technology, promote field-oriented programs in rural institutes, encourage the use of research as a medium for rural and social development and provide extension services to the society by “micro-level planning”.

The Council of NCRI

The council comprise of the
  • Chairman
  • Vice-Chairman
  • 10 renowned persons or educationists that includes minimum of 2 heads from the Rural Institutes or agencies.
  • 4 representatives of the state government
  • 6 representatives representing the Government of India.
  • Member Secretary.
The sitting members of the Council are

  • Chairman: Dr. S.V. Prabhath, IAS
  • Vice-Chairman : Shri P.V. Rajagopal

  • Governing Body of NCRI

  • Chairman
  • Vice-Chairman
  • A representative from each Department of the Government of India
  • 5 persons from the Council members
  • Member Secretary
The Sitting members of the Governing Body are
  • Chairman Chairman : Dr. S.V. Prabhath, IAS
  • Vice-Chairman: Shri P.V. Rajagopal
The various ongoing projects of NCRI are
  • Gandhian Centre for study in pedagogy and practice of Nai Talim in India
  • Establishment of National Centre on Peace & Interfaith
  • Courses on MSW and MA (rural development) in Rajiv Gandhi P.G. College, Kotwa, Jamunpur
  • Basic education rediscovery project consolidation, analysis and dissemination Phase IV
  • Setting up of Vinobhaniketan Grama Vidyalaya Rural Institute
  • Establishment of Rural Institute at Rahta
The complete projects of NCRI are
  • For taking up innovative programmes for the revival of Nai Talim activities in Sevagram
  • For taking up project for non- formal application of Nai-Talim at Community School level.
  • For taking up project for development of Nai-Talim and study of the present status of Nai-Talim Institutions in Gujarat.
  • For taking up innovative programme for skill development.
  • For taking up a comparative study of environment and science teaching.
  • Environment and development education programme in rural schools.


Last Updated on : March 30, 2016