Remembering Veteran Journalist and Visionary – Dr Govind Narain Srivastava

Born in UP on 5th July 1950, Dr. Govind Narain Srivastava is remembered for his legacy work across industries. Not only was he a veteran journalist, but also a relentless entrepreneur, an academic and a philanthropist. Starting from his school days, he displayed characteristics of an organizer and a deep love for writing.

Young Govind earned his Doctorate in Hindi and Political Science from Lucknow University. From the same university, he also got his law degree. He found himself aligned with journalism and politics from his college days itself and started representing India in various international conferences and youth festivals held in India & abroad.

Once Dr. Srivastava completed his education, he began working as a journalist, and soon established himself. He kept his journalism alive till his last breath. As the Founding Editor of 'News from Non-Aligned World,' his contributions have been featured in English and Hindi. In 1990, he went on to establish 'New Delhi Times‘and “Nai Dilli Times” and served as the Chief Editor.

Apart from being an Accredited Parliamentary Correspondent, he was a scholar and a writer who wrote and edited various books, including books on International Affairs and Non-Aligned Movement. His knowledge on subject matters associated with International Politics, NAM, and Political Affairs consistently earned him respect among his peers and in the society.

For Dr. Govind Narain Srivastava, Non-Aligned Movement was a mission. Along with other scholars, he founded International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies in 1980 and served there as the Director-General until he died in 1999. Thanks to his leadership, IINS proved its worth within just a few years of being set up in the field of data dissemination and research. IINS was also been given the UN Consultative Status with ECOSOC (Category-I) to recognize all the contributions of the institute in various fields.

Dr. G.N. Srivastava and his colleagues attended UN Commission on Human Rights sessions. He contributed to the discussions of the Economic and Social Council, the UN’s Sub-Commission, and other UN bodies. Considering his work in the field, Dr. Srivastava was given the position of the Secretary-General for NAM’s NGOs Forum - a centre for NGO of NAM countries.

The sudden death of Dr. Srivastava undoubtedly caused a vacuum that was almost impossible to fill. He is remembered with his famous quote - “We shall all die, world will continue to live.”