New Delhi

Prominent figure and founder-chancellor of Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) of the Parliament by President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday. 

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The distinguished ‘eduprenueur’ and philanthropist Sandhu has been nominated to fill in a vacancy created by the retirement of another nominated member. 

As per the Indian Constitution, 12 members are nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India for a six-year term for their contributions to arts, literature, education and social service.

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The official circular released on Tuesday, read, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Satnam Singh Sandhu to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members.”

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar congratulated Sandhu on X and thanked him for his “passion towards education, innovation and learning will be big sources of strength for the Rajya Sabha.”

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PM Modi also congratulated Sandhu and noted that he is a distinguished educationist and social worker. 

“I am delighted that Rashtrapati Ji has nominated Shri Satnam Singh Sandhu Ji to the Rajya Sabha. Satnam Ji has distinguished himself as a noted educationist and social worker, who has been serving people at the grassroots in different ways. He has always worked extensively to further national integration and has also worked with the Indian diaspora,” PM Modi wrote on X.

Who is Satnam Singh Sandhu, nominated as the Rajya Sabha MP?

Satnam Singh Sandhu is the founder and chancellor of Chandigarh University. He is also the patron of two NGOs - Chandigarh Welfare Trust (CWT) and New India Development (NID) Foundation, which work on community welfare projects in Chandigarh. 

Born in the small village of Rasoolpur in Punjab’s Ferozepur, Satnam initially followed his father’s footsteps and worked as a farmer. 

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Having completed his education at a run-down government school, Sandhu often shares his tales of the challenges he faced during his early days. During his school days, he used to study under the trees like many other students. The lack of basic infrastructure and facilities at schools and universities around his area always used to irk him to do something about it. 

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He eventually took a loan in 2000 and transitioned into the education sector and went on to establish Chandigarh University (CU), which is now recognised as “Asia’s fastest-growing private university.”

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Sandhu, an agriculturist, made the creation of a world-class educational institution his life’s mission by first laying the foundation of Chandigarh Group of Colleges (CGC) at Landran in Mohali in 2001 and then going a step forward with the formation of Chandigarh University in 2012 which a found a place in QS World Rankings 2023, first among private universities in Asia.

(With inputs from agencies)