Pawan Kumar Gupta is the founder Director of a not for profit organization, Society for Integrated Development of Himalayas (SIDH). He has devoted last 30 years of his life to educating the under-privileged children of rural and mountainous region of the tribal area of Jaunpur in Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. Instead of access to education, very early on in his journey he decided to focus his attention on the two important issues of 1) quality and 2) relevance in the area of education. He has questioned, researched and brought to light issues which were not often spoken about in forums debating and discussing education. He has therefore opened a new space where people have started being aware of the underlying messages and assumptions under which our present day education is operating even after 72 years of independence. Not only that but he has successfully demonstrated that it is possible to teach in a manner which teaches ‘how to think’ rather than ‘what to think’;  is much more powerful, relevant, develops the self confidence and self esteem of our people, build critical thinking while making the process of teaching – learning much more lively and dynamic. The research work done by him has had an impact in giving shape to a new way of thinking. Guide books written in a suggestive manner have been recognized by various state governments without active promotion on his part. Now IIIT, Hyderabad under a project from the Knowledge Commission has initiated a project “socionity” where he is an advisors.  The project will incorporate the ideas suggested by him in his two books (“Understanding History” and “jaunpur ke ped paudhe”) so that the village schools become an ‘information resource centre’ for collecting and analysing and disseminating various kinds of information from the region and feeding the data into a central server. The children would learn not only about their region (about local history, weather, geography, crafts, agriculture, crops, etc.) but would also understand various concepts that are taught through subject based teaching in a practical manner. A teachers training module is being prepared to facilitate this project. This project has a potential to bring about a major revolution in education. His ideas have been adopted not only at the rural level but also by some elite schools as well. The methodology while giving due respect to the local and regional can be adapted to any part of the globe while teaching essential concepts.

He has been writing regularly for newspapers, magazines and journals sharing his experiences on the ground, exposing and challenging the myths of modernity. He continues to guide and mentor several individuals and organizations. He derives his intellectual and spiritual strength from Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Dharampal, Agrahar Nagraj, Samdhong Rinpoche and Sri Ravindra Sharma.