Nishith was key in lifting bar at Narayana Group
Had taken over when group had reached a saturation point
The Narayana Group of Institutions was shattered as the news broke of the tragic death of Nishith Narayana, the director of the group, on Wednesday.
Nishith became director in June 2014, after his father and founder of the group of educational institutions, P Narayana, plunged into politics and became a minister in the Telugu Desam Party government in Andhra Pradesh. Officials of the group said that Nishith played a crucial role in expanding the education empire built by his father to other states.
After three-and-a-half decades building the Narayana Group, Mr Narayana shifted to the political arena and is currently Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister.
He has said he did so only after his only son agreed to take over the reins as director and assist his sisters, P Sindhura and P Sharini, who are on the board of management.
Staff say that Nishith was the guiding and motivational force for the group after Mr Narayana left the chairman's position to enter politics in 2014, and was easily accessible to the staff.
The Narayana Group of Institutions has around three lakh students and 30,000 teaching and nonteaching faculty on its rolls in over 500 institutions - schools and professional colleges - spread across 13 states.
Nishith did an MBA degree from the National University of Singapore Business School.
“He was active in the administration and management of the Narayana Group even when he was pursuing an MBA in Singapore. He used to come to Hyderabad every Friday and stay the weekend. He used to hold meetings with the core team on Saturday and Sunday to review the progress of the institutions and the expansion plans,” said an administrative officer of the Group.
A faculty member said that Nishith took over when the group had almost reached saturation point in the Telugu states and he devised plans to expand the group in neighbouring Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal.
“The group was confined to providing coaching for engineering and medical entrance exams earlier. He was instrumental in diversifying the group to other fields like coaching for UPSC Civils, CA exams etc,” the faculty member said.
He also planned the group's entry into professional colleges. "The Narayana group had only one professional college till 2009, which was the medical college in Nellore. But he wanted the group to set up more professional colleges in other sectors due to which the group has now nine professional colleges,” the faculty member said.