Son of Himalaya – Dr. Nityanand

Mussoorie, located in Uttarakhand, known as the queen of hills, attracts lakhs of tourists every year but all is not that beautiful in this rugged terrain of Himalaya and has its own set of hardships. In this serene and rugged land there was a man of grit who devoted his entire life to liberate the people of this region from every problem that persist here – Dr. Nityanand. 

Dr. Nityanand’s life is an inspirational story. Born on 9th Feb 1926 he was the fourth of siblings after 3 sisters. His father was a Railway employee and expected him to further the lineage but Dr. Nityanand was an altruist from the beginning and decided to flying solo for life to do social services. He was a lecturer in Geography department at D.B.S. College Dehradun. Since the very beginning he was noticeably passionate about social service. For poor kids he started hostels at villages like Magti Pokhri, Patia and Lateri, which have helped many to become successful in life.

Because of his extraordinary zeal for making the lives in mountainous region worth living people started calling Dr. Nitynanad ‘Himalaya Putra’ (Son of Himalayas). Despite the fact that he had Partial Paralysis since 1975, he never stopped going to the mountains to help people. After devastating earthquake of 1991 in Garhwal, he helped affected families to become self-dependent. He also started teaching their kids by making Maneri as the centre and directed the rehabilitation work of 50 villages with the help of 50 Swayamsewaks. He distributed utensils, blankets and other essential items as well as constructed earthquake resistant houses for more than 400 families. Dr. Nityanand was a fulltime Swayamsewak from 1945 till his last breath and was also a Prant Karyawah for many years. He is credited with the formation of Uttaranchal Natural Calamity Committee which gives assistance in any part of India affected by a natural calamity.

Dr. Nityanand was a saint in modern avatar. He did job all his life but never saved for himself nor did he make a house for himself. He looked after his mother and started scholarships in her name (Shrimati Bhagwati Devi Charitable Trust) after she passed away. This Trust now gives scholarships to 40 needy and bright students every year.

Dr. Nityanand saved the state from the clutches of Naxalism when the demand for separate Uttarakhand was at peak. He drove it towards nationalism rather than violent outbursts. He is known for his development work of villages, he wanted to make 50 model villages in various districts for which he kept working all his life. Examples of this include Patiya village in Almora, Bhigan village in Tihri and Mati Pokhri in Dehradun. He involved students for this purpose and made the next generation altruistic from an early age. He was awarded by Kumar Library Committee of Bada Bazar, Kolkata and Bhaurao Devras Nyas, Varanasi. The man he was, he even donated the award money to social causes.

Dr. Nityanand wrote many books on history, geography and also did research on the Himalayas. A University is being constructed by the name of ‘Dr. Nityanand Himalyan Education and Research Centre’ at Dehradun. This saintly man took his last breath on 8th January 2016 at Dehradun Sangh office. According to Vijay ji, director of World communication centre Dehradun and Varishta Pracharak of Sangh, Dr. Nityanand paved the way for social service in Uttarakhand and worked selflessly for development of region and upliftment of people.