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Ravinder Saini
Quality education is the foundation of development and social reforms. With this mission, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, Alumni Association has decided to set up well-equipped libraries in rural areas to provide quality education to village students.
For this, the association has already established three libraries on government school campuses at Tatarpur, Hansaka and Sheoraj Majra villages in Rewari district with the support of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) Private Limited. Two such libraries were established at Palra village in Jhajjar district and Pahari village in Gurugram district a few months ago.
“All three libraries have been set up at an average cost of Rs 5 lakh each and more than 200 books on various subjects for competitive examinations have been made available in the first phase. More books and computers with Wi-Fi facility will be provided in the libraries in the second phase. Thereafter, students will not only be able to go through e-books, but will also get novel academic information through the internet,” says Vinod Yadav, nodal officer of the project and former secretary of IIT-Delhi Alumni Association.
Yadav said a 2 kilowatt solar panel has been set up in each library to ensure round-the-clock electricity supply. The association has donated total books worth Rs 1.70 lakh to the libraries, while the Central Library of IIT-Delhi will provide 20 computer tables to the library in Majra Swaraj village. A teacher of each school has been made the in charge of the library, while the work of its upkeep would be done with the help of the gram panchayat concerned, he said.
He maintains that 16 CCTV cameras have been installed in the second library opened at Government High School, Pahari village, where students have been given the Wi-Fi facility with five ultra-modern wireless computers. Students of not only Pahari village, but of nearby villages also come here to avail the facility, he said.
Rohit Koshy, president of the association, said the vision and mission for developing rural library aims at providing quality education in rural areas as it is the foundation of growth and social reform. “We want to create a spirit of learning, innovation, character, creativity and competition in each student. Moreover, only quality education can help in attaining inclusive development and eradicating poverty,” he said.