The Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) discipline of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), as a part of its Social Justice Seminar Series, is going to host a talk by Shri Sathyanarayanan Mundayoor, a Padma Shri awardee educationist and social activist working in North-East India, on September 06, 2022, at 6 pm.

In his talk titled “Joyful Reading in Script-less Communities: An Arunachal Pradesh Story”, Shri Mundayoor, also fondly known as Uncle Moosa, will share his remarkable journey of forty years to bring educational reform in North-East India. He will also talk about the challenges he faced and the efforts he made to reach different communities in the remotest parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Born in Kerala, Shri Mundayoor has been working in Arunachal Pradesh since 1979. He left his job as a Revenue Officer in Mumbai and went to Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh. Keen to build up reading habits among children, he has made several efforts to reach tribal families in the hilly state. He also founded the Lohit Youth Library Network, a voluntary movement, in 2007, which now has a network of 13 unit libraries in places like Wakro, Namsai, Roing, Lathaw, and Anjaw. In recognition of his extraordinary efforts in promoting a joyful education in Arunachal Pradesh, he was awarded Padma Shri in 2020.

The Social Justice Seminar Series at IITGN is an attempt to initiate discussions on the themes of marginalisation, exclusion, inequality, and discrimination against the most marginalised and vulnerable societies. Our aim is to reach out to a larger audience from various disciplinary backgrounds and offer a platform to engage in critical discussions on social equality, inclusivity, diversity and justice.