“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X
It is rightly said that everything could be snatched away from a person, except for his education and the one who seeks to provide others with the gift of knowledge is no less than a saint. An IPS officer of 2014 batch, Chhattisgarh cadre, Mr. Suraj Singh Parihar has been doing the same for a long time now. We have already covered the story of how he conducts online webinars for UPSC aspirants and help them in achieving their goals.
Read here: IPS Suraj Singh Parihar
And now, Mr. Parihar has come up with yet another brilliant initiative of opening ‘Book Banks’ for the tribal youth of districts, that might help in increasing their knowledge and aid them in gaining new perspectives about life.
BOOK BANKS IN CHHATTISGARH
The division of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh made way for a new district called Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi which is the 28th district of the state. The district mostly comprises of Amarkantak forest and is home to a big tribal population. Posted as the first Superintendent of Police of the place, Mr. Parihar realized that the place does not consist of any proper library or book store from where locals could buy or rent books and read.
“I am in touch with numerous students through my webinars and social media, who required competitive or preparation books, time and again and this gave me the idea to open a Book Bank where books related to Bank PO, UPSC, CGPSC, SSC, Sub Inspector entrance, Railway entrance, etc. were made available for the students to learn and prepare from,” Mr. Parihar told Indian Masterminds.
Furthermore he told us, that children of police personnel will receive a free subscription to the books and other children may get the books at a very nominal fee of Rs. 50 or Rs. 100 per year so that everybody could afford it and simultaneously the library could be maintained.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
To bring his idea into play, Mr. Parihar took advantage of social media and appealed to everyone to come forward and help in making this initiative successful. The appeal received hits and numerous people re-tweeted the same.
“Some very helpful and giving people came forward and contacted me. They sent me the books through parcels at my residence. I have two empty rooms in my office and I have decided I would utilize them into opening the Book Bank. A few people have also donated almirahs which will be brought to use. The Book Bank will be our New Year gift to the residents and will be inaugurated next month” stated Mr. Parihar.
Till now Mr. Parihar has received over 3000 books from hundreds of people all across the globe. People are happy to donate for the ones who are in need.
Mr. Sumit Rayat, probationary officer of SBI (2009 batch), currently posted in Oman says, “I have been associated with Mr. Parihar, through various social medium platforms. I have observed that, despite his super tight schedule, he has always tried to make a difference in the society through his noble and innovative ideas. Few days back, I saw yet another ray of hope from Suraj sir. This time he came up with a brilliant idea of a book bank, wherein he wanted to help the needy and the underprivileged students of society & he had appealed everyone for donating the books. This idea touched my heart & I immediately started surfing the online sites like Amazon for the same. Added the books to my cart and placed order right away. I cannot describe the feeling of elation, this contribution gave me. I had read somewhere that “Today’s readers are tomorrow’s leaders” and books are the best gift, we can give to anyone. Our small contribution can make a big difference. Therefore, I appeal to everyone to please support Suraj ji, in this noble cause.”
RECOGNITION GAINED
RECOGNITION GAINEDMr. Parihar has been honored with the prestigious Commendation Disc of CRPF Director General by the DGP CRPF, Mr. A.P. Maheshwari, for his work as A.S.P in Naxal-infested Dantewada district where he worked as a Police Nodal and conducted peaceful elections without any hindrance.
Mr. Parihar appeals to the public to donate good quality books to the bank which could help these tribal youth in shaping a future for them. “Language of the books has no bar although we would prefer Hindi books, as the majority of the population is not quite well-versed with English language and hail from Hindi medium backgrounds. But there is no demarcation as such. All of it is for the students, so whatever pleases them.” He told Indian Masterminds.
