Kendriya Vidyalayas’ logo: Arjun Singh drops lotus

New Delhi, August 29: When the 79th meeting of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Board of Governors (BoG) quietly decided to change the logo of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and its 850 Central Schools on June 26 this year, little did they think it would lead to a political controversy. But when a board headed by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh decides to omit the ‘lotus’ symbol — also the BJP party symbol — from the emblem to enable a “broader reflection of the national ethos”, it’s hard not to see any politics in the act. This new emblem, say officials, was chosen from amongst several proposed by the art teachers of various KVs and after a close selection in which HRD minister Arjun Singh is said to have taken keen interest.

At its BoG presided over by Vice Chairman Ashok Thakur, Additional Secretary, HRD ministry, the KVS ratified the logo makeover and chose to do so by replacing the blooming lotus in the lower half of the emblem with a globe showing children reaching out and a satellite in the sky. The minutes of the 79th BoG clearly list two items under the head “Ratification of decisions taken by the Chairman of KVS (HRD minister Arjun Singh)” — one of which is on the changed logo. The minutes further read that “the board ratified the changed logo as approved by the Chairman, KVS”.

The new logo was designed by Sudhir Kumar, art teacher at Delhi Cantt’s KV number 3. The minister liked what he saw and gave his provisional approval which was then ratified by the BoG. The globe that has replaced the lotus in the new logo has, in fact, been borrowed from the UN logo, said officials.

The 43-year-old logo that has been replaced was said to have been designed by ‘some artists of the time’ and was supposed to be a borrowed one.

“When the KVS was established in 1963, the old logo with the lotus was actually just given to them by the then education ministry presided over by M C Chagla. Whereas the old logo was an amalgam of various similar logos, the new one is an in-house effort. In the old logo, the lotus stood as a symbol of education — as the lotus blooms even in filthy water, education purifies all and rises above all narrowness of thought. The new logo reflects the new scientific temper, globalisation and dynamism of education besides technological innovations introduced through satellites and computers,” said Dr U N Singh, Joint Commissioner(Academics), KVS.

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