Noted social worker and Padmashri awardee Baba Iqbal Singh dies at 96

Founder of Akal Academies and Padma Shri awardee Baba Iqbal Singh died in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district on Saturday, a district official said. He was 96. Iqbal Singh breathed his last at Baru Sahib in Sirmaur district, the official said.He was unwell for past some time and was admitted to a private hospital in Punjab’s Mohali for about one month, the official added. Iqbal Singh had been brought to Baru Sahib in Sirmour, from where he had started his journey of service to humanity following in the footsteps of his guru Sant Attar Singh ji Maharaj, on Friday and passed away on Saturday at around 3 pm, the official said.

His last rites will be performed on Monday afternoon.Baba Iqbal Singh had worked relentlessly in only one direction  imparting value-based education in rural India. As an in-charge of Kalgidhar Trust, which he founded in 1965, he built the organisation brick-by-brick. It now runs 129 CBSE-affiliated schools with over 70,000 children. Far away from the urban milieu, these schools impart value-based education to children from the marginalised sections of the society.He started with only five students in a one-room school — Akal Academy — at Baru Sahib. He used his pension money for constructing the school. The next year, more than 70 children from nearby districts took admission and several families also came forward to help the trust.