First Education Minister of India

Name: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Full name: Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed) Born: 11 November 1888, Mecca (then Ottoman Empire) Died: 22 February 1958, New Delhi Tenure as Education Minister: 15 August 1947 – 2 February 1958 Political Party: Indian National Congress Award: Bharat Ratna (1992, posthumous)

Key Contributions as Education Minister:

1. Established IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) • IIT Kharagpur established in 1951 — first IIT in India
2. Established UGC (University Grants Commission) • UGC set up in 1953 to regulate higher education
3. Established AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education)
4. Promoted free and compulsory primary education
5. Established the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
6. Initiated establishment of Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953), Sahitya Akademi (1954), Lalit Kala Akademi (1954)
7. Supported secular, inclusive education — strongly opposed partition-based educational policies
8. Promoted modern scientific education alongside traditional learning

Abul Kalam Azad as a Person: • Scholar, freedom fighter, journalist • Editor of Al-Hilal (Urdu newspaper, 1912) • Strongly opposed to the partition of India • Close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru • Known for his scholarship in Islamic theology and modern education

National Education Day: • Celebrated on 11 November (his birthday) since 2008 • Declared by Ministry of Education (then HRD)

Note: After 1958, the Education Ministry has been renamed multiple times: • Ministry of Education → Ministry of HRD (1985) → Ministry of Education (2020)