Parliament panel praises Sonam Wangchuk’s HIAL, urges UGC recognition

The Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL), founded by renowned Ladakh educator and innovator Sonam Wangchuk, has won glowing praise from a Parliamentary panel, which described its work as “exemplary” and urged the University Grants Commission (UGC) to grant the institution long-pending recognition.

In a report tabled in Parliament earlier this week, the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Youth and Sports, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, expressed concern that HIAL’s application for UGC recognition has remained unresolved for years, despite the institute’s growing academic stature and international acclaim.

During a study visit to Ladakh, the committee said it was deeply impressed by HIAL’s distinctive academic ecosystem — one that seamlessly blends education, research and entrepreneurship while remaining rooted in the region’s unique socio-cultural and ecological realities. The panel highlighted HIAL’s emphasis on experiential and project-based learning, noting that the institute exemplifies the spirit of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

“The committee observed that HIAL has had a tremendous impact on the local community and has earned international recognition through pioneering initiatives such as ice stupas and other forms of community engagement,” the report said.

Beyond recommending formal recognition, the panel urged the Ministry of Education and the UGC to closely study the HIAL model, suggesting it could serve as a blueprint for educational innovation across the country. It proposed that similar approaches be replicated elsewhere through Centres of Innovation in Education or other targeted interventions.

The endorsement comes against a fraught backdrop for Wangchuk and the institution he founded. In September, the activist-educator was detained under the stringent National Security Act, days after violent protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status left four people dead and dozens injured. The government accused Wangchuk of inciting the unrest — a charge his supporters have strongly contested.

In the aftermath, the Ladakh administration cancelled land allotted to HIAL, while the Union Home Ministry revoked its Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration, citing alleged violations.

Even as administrative and political headwinds swirl around HIAL, the Parliamentary panel’s report casts the institute as a beacon of educational innovation — one whose blend of local knowledge, community engagement and experiential learning, it argues, deserves both recognition and replication.

With PTI inputs