Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, newly headed by Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Member Mukul Wasnik, were on a two-day visit to Puducherry. The commitee visited Auroville on Tuesday, 14th July 2026.
Officer on Special Duty of the Auroville Foundation G. Seetharaman briefed the members on the extensive development programmes initiated in Auroville. He also highlighted the initiatives undertaken in the education sector under the umbrella of Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research. The committee also visited Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry.
"The Committee held detailed deliberations with senior officials from the Government of Puducherry, the Ministry of Education, the Auroville Foundation, Pondicherry University, Puducherry Technological University and NIT Puducherry", according to a member of the committee Dr. Thamizhachi Thangapandian.
Parliamentary standing committees are authorised to carry out 'on-the-spot' study visit of various institutions and establishments connected to the concerned departments and the the Minister concerned shall make once in six months a statement in the House regarding the status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Reports of Departmentally Related Standing Committee of Lok Sabha with regard to her/his Ministry.
Shri Digvijaya Singh, former M.P, Rajya Sabha who was the Chairman of the committee had demitted office on completion of his tenure on 21st June 2026. The present Chairman is also a Rajya Sabha M.P.
Sources: 1. Parliamentary Affairs, Exclusive News Portal of Parliamentary and Legislative Development
2. https://sansad.in/ls/committee/departmentally-related-standing-committees
3. Images: _thamizhachi_, Instagram & Thamizhachi Thangapandian, Facebook (Committee Member)