>Explicit at 23:45, 25 October 2021

2021-10-25T23:45:27Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lalit Pande
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Almora district]], [[Uttarakhand]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| restingplace =
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| othername =
| education = [[The Doon School]]<br>[[Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi]]<br>[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
| occupation = Environmentalist
| yearsactive =
| known for = Environmental education, sustainability in ecologically fragile regions of [[Uttarakhand]]
| spouse = Anuradha Pande
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = [[B. D. Pande]]
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br>[[IIT Delhi]] Distinguished Alumni Award
}}
'''Lalit Pande''' is an Indian social worker, environmentalist and the founder of Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre, a [[non governmental organization]] promoting environmental education in the hilly areas of the Indian state of [[Uttarakhand]].<ref name="Dr. Lalit Pande ">{{cite web | url=https://alumni.iitd.ac.in/content/dr-lalit-pande | title=Dr. Lalit Pande | publisher=AAIP Portal | date=2015 | accessdate=20 December 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223005435/https://alumni.iitd.ac.in/content/dr-lalit-pande | archive-date=23 December 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Under the aegis of the organization, Pande is known to have introduced community educational programmes focused on environment and development<ref name="Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Paryavaran Shiksha Sansthan">{{cite web | url=https://projects.aidindia.org/content/uttarakhand-seva-nidhi-paryavaran-shiksha-sansthan | title=Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Paryavaran Shiksha Sansthan | publisher=Aid India Projects | date=2015 | accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> and supported over 200 community based organizations in the state.<ref name="Dot Com Mantra: Social Computing in the Central Himalayas">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ExIOq8R_8OAC&q=Lalit+Pande&pg=PA78 | title=Dot Com Mantra: Social Computing in the Central Himalayas | publisher=Ashgate Publishing | author=Payal Arora | year=2012 | pages=206 | isbn=9781409488729}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]], in 2007, for his contributions to environmental education.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |accessdate=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6U68ulwpb?url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archivedate=15 November 2014 }}</ref>

== Biography ==
Lalit Pande was born in a socially known [[Almora]] family to Vimla Pande and [[B. D. Pande|Bhairav Dutt Pande]], an [[Indian civil service|Indian Civil Service]] officer,<ref name="Pande takes top post for two years">{{cite web | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020911/asp/nation/story_1187782.asp | title=Pande takes top post for two years | newspaper=The Telegraph | date=11 September 2002 | accessdate=22 December 2015}}</ref> a 1972 [[Padma Shri]] recipient<ref name="Dot Com Mantra: Social Computing in the Central Himalayas" /> and a former Governor of the states of [[West Bengal]] and [[Punjab]].<ref name="Grace without measure">{{cite web | url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/grace-without-measure/15805/ | title=Grace without measure | publisher=Indian Express | date=1 November 2006 | accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> His uncle, Vinod Pande, was also a former Governor and a Cabinet Secretary and his sister-in-law, [[Mrinal Pande]], is a [[Padma Shri]] award winning journalist and the author of ''[[The Other Country: Dispatches from the Mofussil]]''. His schooling was at [[The Doon School]], the [[Dehradun]] based premier educational institution,<ref name="3 Bangalore schools among India's best">{{cite web | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/3-Bangalore-schools-among-Indias-best/articleshow/10286306.cms?referral=PM | title=3 Bangalore schools among India's best | newspaper=Times of India | date=9 October 2011 | accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> and graduated in Engineering from the [[Indian Institute of Technology]], Delhi, in 1970.<ref name="A Deodar Or A Chocolate Bar?">{{cite web | url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/a-deodar-or-a-chocolate-bar/232551 | title=A Deodar Or A Chocolate Bar? | publisher=Outlook India | date=18 September 2006 | accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> Later, moving to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], he secured a master's degree from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) in 1972.<ref name="IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://iitdalumni.com/node/91194 | title=IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Awardees | publisher=IIT Alumni Association | date=2015 | accessdate=22 December 2015}}</ref>

Returning to India, he worked in various places, including at [[Cadbury's]], but shifted back to the US to pursue his doctoral studies and gained a doctoral degree (PhD) from [[Purdue University]] in 1982. Eschewing a regular job, he went to his ancestral town of [[Almora]], a hilly region in [[Uttarakhand]], in 1984, where he started a [[non governmental organization]], ''Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Paryavaran Shiksha Sansthan'' (USNPSS), ''Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi'' for short, to start his social career.<ref name="IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Awardees" /> Securing a grant of {{INR}}200,000 from the Government of India, under the New Education Policy of 1986, the organization functioned from a room at Pande's residence and worked for promoting environmental education in the state.<ref name="A Deodar Or A Chocolate Bar?" /> Over the years, they are reported to have been successful in introducing environmental education as a subject in the middle school curriculum of the state, which is related to the topics of ''food, fodder, water, trees, crops, soil, manure and rainfall''. They are also supporting over 300 pre-primary schools in the state.<ref name="A Deodar Or A Chocolate Bar?" /> The organization is associated with agencies such as [[UNESCO]], in the matters related to environmental sustainability<ref name="Community Empowerment towards Environmental Sustainability">{{cite journal | url=http://www.cbdportal.net/Resources/Detail.asp?ResID=955240873273772 | title=Community Empowerment towards Environmental Sustainability | author=Shirin Mehrgan | journal=Community-based Developmental Portal | year=2002}}</ref> and Pande serves as the director of the Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre. He is also involved with the other issues of social interest in the state.<ref name="The Uttarakhand Floods: A view from Kumaon">{{cite web | url=http://www.sify.com/news/the-uttarakhand-floods-a-view-from-kumaon-news-columns-nhwlujbhafa.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722153512/http://www.sify.com/news/the-uttarakhand-floods-a-view-from-kumaon-news-columns-nhwlujbhafa.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=22 July 2013 | title=The Uttarakhand Floods: A view from Kumaon | publisher=Sify | date=22 July 2013 | accessdate=22 December 2015}}</ref>

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 2007.<ref name="Padma Awards" /> His alma mater, the [[Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi]], awarded him the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.<ref name="IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Awardees" /> Pande is married to Anuradha, who is also involved in his social activities, attending to the women's forums of the Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi.<ref name="Dot Com Mantra: Social Computing in the Central Himalayas" />

== See also ==
{{portal|India|Environment}}
* [[List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pande, Lalit}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields]]
[[Category:The Doon School alumni]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:IIT Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Purdue University alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:People from Almora district]]
[[Category:Social workers from Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:Indian environmentalists]]
[[Category:Social workers]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Lalit Pande - Revision history

>Explicit at 23:45, 25 October 2021