Entrepreneur

PROFILE Kunwarani Ritu Singh • Pro-Vice Chairperson, Delhi Public School, Jammu Founder Trustee, DPS Nagbani & DPS Katra • Trustee, Rajput Charitable Trust, J&K • Founding Chairperson-Maharaja Hari Singh Social & Education Foundation, Jammu • Co-Chair Maharaja Hari Singh Foundation • Chairperson, Ashok Kapur Foundation, Jammu • Founding Chairperson, FICCI FLO- Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh Chapter • Vice President and Chairperson, Kick Boxing Federation of India ABOUT KUNWARANI RITU SINGH She is a dynamic leader, philosopher, philanthropist, socialist, and socialist reformer. Along with her strong sense of business, she delivers a huge share of her enterprises with corporate social responsibilities. Her spiritual journey leads her to be extremely pious. She is a pioneer in education, passionate about reviving age-old traditions through art, music, food, and culture. Engaged in many charities, Kunwarani Ritu Singh is a spiritual seeker, aesthetically involved in Interiors, Event Planning, and Environment Protection. She thinks out of the box and Innovation is her mantra. Her “Service Before Self” motto has influenced many and brought reform in the lives of underprivileged and armed forces through many outreach programs undertaken by her. Her business interest lies in Hospitality, Education, Health, and Organic and Eco- Friendly areas. Women Empowerment is an area close to her heart and has led to employment generation and economic empowerment for more than 400 women employees working in the organizations pioneered by her. Kunwarani Ritu Singh has got the Leadership Strength to make the voice of underprivileged women heard and has the power to give wings to their aspirations. INTRODUCTION A good strategist, globally traveled, a strong networker, and skilled at team building, Kunwarani Ritu Singh has spent more than two decades in education, plays a key role in the managing committee of DPS Jammu as Pro-Vice Chairperson and as Member Trustee, DPS Nagbani, DPS Katra, Rajput Charitable Trust, Maharaja Hari Singh Social & Education Foundation, Jammu and Ashok Kapur Foundation, Jammu. Kunwarani Ritu Singh believes that every child has a right to be educated and there should never be any disparity between Class, Colour, or Race. She maintains that children are the future and it is very important to take responsibility to create a society that is responsible, is her mantra, for effort, is more important than the final result. She has strived to provide a platform for not only students but also for faculty for creating a sustainable society and family believing in a collective sense of responsibility, belonging, and discipline. She believes in the power of god and is extremely spiritual. She always encourages living life according to age-old Indian traditions. Through her vision and constant guidance, the DPS schools of Jammu and Katra have become a platform of excellence in most fields. She also established DPS School in Leh, Ladhak in extremely challenging terrains and difficult situations. Her sheer strength of character, discipline, brilliant & innovative ideas, willingness to strive for education and enthusiastic nature defines Kunwarani Ritu Singh. Her motto has always been Service Before Self. Hence as a young woman of 23 years, what attracted her to DPS was the motto of the school. She believes that a healthy body makes a healthy mind and insists on the law of mind body and soul to be in conjunction. She has ensured that yoga, meditation, prayer, and 'Sewa’ are taught to every child and faculty member of all the schools under her supervision. Regular visits by children and faculty to old age homes, orphanages, cowsheds, and green fields have been promoted by her. She believes in respecting the environment and giving back to Mother Nature. Therefore, she launched the first of its kind Green and Eco-friendly School concept in Jammu & Kashmir by creating DPS Nagbani. A Visionary Par Excellence, A Woman who is exemplary of the proverb “Actions speak louder than words”, Kunwarani Ritu Singh gives shape to the entire scheme of things mentored by her. Her exemplary vision, honesty, hard work, dedication, patriotism, passion for life, belief in improving lives, ‘Sewa’ for animals, orphans, and old age home, is outstanding. FOUNDING CHAIRPERSON, FICCI FLO- JAMMU, KASHMIR, AND LADAKH CHAPTER FICCI FLO - JKL was founded on 21 April 2021 by Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji as one of the 18th chapters of FICCI FLO, an all-India forum for women. The mission of FLO -JKL is Power to Empower. It provides necessary hand-holding to women entrepreneurs at 3 levels: 1. Grass Root 2. Middle level 3. Senior-level. As the Founding Chairperson, Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji has motivated her team to carry forward several initiatives under the aegis of the national body and within one year, FLO - JKL has emerged as one of the strongest women-led forums in entire J&K UT. CHAIRPERSON, ASHOK KAPUR FOUNDATION As Chairperson, Ashok Kapur Foundation Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji has passionately carried out a wide outreach program towards every community to integrate them as a union by reaching out to urban & rural women, army wives, specially-abled children, rural girl children, women achievers, infants, school children and people with medical needs. She has very passionately tried to bridge the gap between the armed forces and the civilians by initiating Army Wives Enablement programs for small businesses, skilling and capacity building, medical camps, financial literacy programs for war widows, plantation drives, celebrating occasions such as Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj with them. All programs have been meticulously planned under her able vision. TAWI PROJECT Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji's love for Jammu and her love for Mother Earth has led her to kickstart her environmental initiatives for Tawi which began with a grand Arti of Maa Tawi, on the lines of Maa Ganga Arti followed by Plantation Drive in the embankment area and Clean Tawi initiatives. COMMITMENT TO PROMOTING THE CULTURE AND HERITAGE OF JAMMU Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji is deeply rooted in the culture of Jammu. Her commitment to the culture, heritage, art, and music of Jammu has led her to initiate several programs for promoting the same. SPIRITUAL QUEST Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji is deeply spiritual and leaves no stone unturned to offer obeisance and prayers in gratitude to Shiv and Shakti, the reigning divine forces, seeking their blessings for all subjects of the region. CO-CHAIR MAHARAJA HARI SINGH FOUNDATION Having the lineage of Maharaja Hari Singh Ji, Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji has Co-founded Maharaja Hari Singh Foundation. As the Co-Chair, Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji aspires to carry forward Maharaja Hari Singh Ji’s unfulfilled dreams for his people. She has taken it as her responsibility to carry the baton of service forward with her social work and philanthropy for the people of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh. Her love for the service to people has led her to do a lot of work in this field for the underprivileged, especially-abled, old age homes, homes for the mentally challenged, and computer education for rural girl children. She continues to do these works effortlessly. EARLY INFLUENCES & EDUCATION Born to Smt. Rohini Kapur & Sh. Ashok Kapur, Kunwarani Ritu Singh hails from a family full of ethics and deep-rooted values. She attended St. Lawrence School, Sanawar, a boarding school where she learned many lessons of discipline, sharing, self-defense, and equality, the motto of her school being 'Never Give Up'. At home, she grew up learning values, the importance of simplicity, and the virtues of being a self-made person, compassionate, disciplined, and patriotic. Her siblings include an elder brother, who is a self-made successful businessman, and a younger brother, who has been a topper at IIT, DPS, St. Stephens College, etc., and is a recipient of several honors and awards. All her ancestors have been very patriotic and connected to their Indian roots. As a child, Kunwarani Ritu Singh was strongly influenced by her father, Lt Sh. Ashok Kapur. His humility, hard work, self-respect, and patriotism were reflected in almost every aspect of his being. GRANDPARENTS & THEIR INFLUENCE She learned innumerable lessons from her parents, Smt Rohini Kapur and Sh. Ashok Kapur and her grandparents, Major General Sh. S.M. Shrinagesh and Smt. Rajkumari Shrinagesh .She grew up listening to the stories of valor sitting in her grandfather Major General Shinagesh's lap whose contributions to India have made history. Her father, Sh. Ashok Kapur, son of Sh. S.N. Kapur was a Chief Engineer in Punjab State and his wife Smt. Savitri Kapur was an ardent homemaker. Kunwarani Ritu Singh grew up learning values, the importance of simplicity, and the virtues of being a self-made person, compassionate, disciplined, and patriotic from her paternal grandparents. They influenced her young mind by being self-respecting, strong, and resilient. Post partition, they carved a life against all odds raising a large family. So the feeling of community sharing stemmed from here. PARENTS & THEIR INFLUENCE Her mother, Smt.Rohini Kapur impacted Kunwarani Ritu Singh deeply. As a child, she would often marvel at her mother who worked within tight budgets to provide the best for her and her siblings, and how she would go to the Delhi blind school where she would teach voluntarily. This cemented her roots for doing selfless 'Sewa' and service. Her Father, Sh. Ashok Kapur greatly influenced Kunwarani Ritu Singh with his unflinching loyalty and service to his country. He was a self-made man, and post-partition, worked extremely hard to achieve his goals and provide for his family and all those he could empower. He was throughout a topper in schools and colleges. He was an IIT Kharagpur graduate and a man of the highest values of integrity. He bravely fought cancer till the very end. He used to make her perch on his shoulders to hear great leaders speak in large gatherings. Upon their return, he would teach her how to empower herself and others who were at a disadvantage and didn’t have an opportunity. He had an enormous passion for golf and maintained this passion despite battling cancer, till the end. Her parents would make all children say a prayer every morning, to wake up in gratitude for a new day, saying prayers before meals and before going to bed, practicing Meditation to clear the mind, inculcating these values into their DNA. Both parents worked hard and would still take out time to do a lot of social work. She used to accompany her mother to the blind school where she would volunteer to teach every weekend for free. It was from there that she learned compassion & kindness. And, her father would take his children to the neighborhood slums where he would voluntarily educate them as small children. He would talk to them about health care, hygiene, vocational skills, etc. It was from him that she learned empathy and selfless service bring strongly influenced by him, would like to complete his unfinished dreams. MARRIAGE Married to Sh. M.K. Ajat Shatru Singh ( Member of BJP, President Rajput Charitable Trust and Former Cabinet Minister- Transport, Tourism, Sports, Science & Technology) in 1989. A KEY CONTRIBUTOR & GUIDING FACTOR FOR FOUNDING THE J&K DPS FAMILY Towards the beginning of the new millennium, around 1998, while J&K state was recovering from the onslaught of militancy, back then, there was a need for providing meaningful education to a large number of children of the J&K state, desirous of growing into educated and liberated human beings. Most of the schools were affiliated with the State Board of School Education. One or two schools were associated with CBSE. But there was a need for school education with a global touch. There was a need to provide an educational environment that was both healthy and also conducive to the holistic growth of the children. This need was fulfilled by Kunwarani Ritu Singh Ji. After several rounds of deliberations and discussions with the intelligentsia, Educationists, and Intellectuals, Kunwarani Ritu Singh drew up the map for getting global education to J&K state for the betterment of the society, especially in the remote and less developed areas of the state. The idea of setting up the chain of DPS schools in J&K, under the aegis of the DPS Society, New Delhi was thus conceived and later implemented successfully. DPS Jammu came up as the first branch of DPS in J&K in August 1998, with the first batch of Class X & XII passing out in 2001, which was followed by springing up of the other 12 branches of DPS in the chain, at places such as Srinagar, Leh, Budgam, Baramulla, Katra, Udhampur, Anantnag, Leh, Nagbani, etc. As many as 50,000 children who have passed out from these schools so far have been blessed with the world-class global education, whose foundation was laid by Kuwarani Ritu Singh through the inception of the first branch of DPS at Jammu. Thus, private participation in education brought the J&K state on the map of global education and created a sort of revolution in the Education sector of the state. A PIONEER IN INNOVATION & IDEATION & CONTRIBUTIVE GOALS Spreading the umbrella of quality education in Jammu, Kunwarani Ritu Singh brought several renowned personalities to the state of Jammu to expand the co-scholastic exposure of the children of all the schools initiated by her. This impacted the young minds immensely, as they could look up to the successful educational significance of a school can be measured in terms of its potential to raise worthy citizens who can multiply manifold, the goodness of Education received by them during their school years. ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER SCHOOLS The idea of establishing a re-connect with the school alumni was planted by Kunwarani Ritu Singh, to re-connect the thread of school-student affinity and bonding. The Rencontre has seen the regular presence of school alumni, who are placed in high positions in India and abroad, at various school events as distinguished guests and according to them with due honor for their achievements. Amongst the alumni are IAS Officers, KAS Officers, Doctors, Engineers, Army Officers, Chartered Accountants, Film Actors, Politicians, Business Entrepreneurs, Lecturers, etc. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Kunwarani Ritu Singh believes that it is highly important to maintain humility to remain balanced and grounded and also to develop students as good human beings. According to her teachers can mold children into any desirable shape they wish to so that they lead their lives successfully and also serve the nation selflessly. She has always been a beacon of light, hope, and inspiration for the students and staff by continually rousing and reminding us of our great responsibility, not only towards our school children but also towards our community, especially for the underprivileged children of our nation. 'Prayas-a try', the school's community outreach program, has been one of her biggest initiatives taken by her. Other initiatives taken by her include the development of underprivileged children, girl child education, pension to war widows of army and defense personnel, extending financial help to orphan girls on their marriage, and providing free health and medical checkup and services to the underprivileged and needy. ACCOLADES Recipient of several awards for her contribution to Society, Education, and Women Empowerment.