In order to provide a comfortable space to study for the children who live in small huts in villlages, Chief Development Officer of Varanasi, Himanshu Nagpal, IAS, came up with the idea to convert old, unused rooms in the villages to libraries with proper facilities.
This step has set off a reading trend in the villages, with people, even senior citizens and women, making rounds of the libraries, especially in the evenings, to read newspapers and books.
Indian Masterminds spoke to 2019-batch IAS officer Himanshu Nagpal to know more about his ‘Mission Padhaku – Ek Gram Panchayat, Ek Library’.
THE MISSION
The sole aim of ‘Mission Padhaku – Ek Gram Panchayat, Ek Library’ is to create libraries and reading room facilities in the villages. First, any dilapidated or unused room in the gram panchayat is identified and then converted into a space where children, who do not have the luxury of a study place in their own home, can come and read comfortably without any disturbance.
“There are many homes where a big family lives in a very small space. In such circumstances, children are unable to concentrate on their studies, and this is where these libraries come in. Here children can comfortably sit, concentrate, and read good books. The library is open from 8 am to 8 pm,” Mr. Nagpal said.
The district administration renovated unused rooms in Gram Panchayat buildings, adding furniture and books, and made them ready for use as public libraries.
A target was set for creating 100 libraries. Many people from the villages came forward those to help. “People who have settled outside the villages and are doing good in life came forward and supported us in this initiative,” said Mr. Nagpal.
CROWDFUNDING
Crowdfunding took care of the necessary expenses. Liking the initiative, the people from the villages themselves contributed generously for the furniture and books. People who had prepared for competitive exams came forward to donate their books.
“We have made a list of 80 books that should be available in every library. These are all books for competitive examinations,” Mr. Nagpal said.
In case, crowdfunding does not happen, then full support is provided by the government. “But we aim to use crowdfunding as much as possible. We have gram panchayats where the entire work was done with crowdfunding. Then there are some others where 80% of the library work was done through crowdfunding and the rest 20% with the help of the government,” the officer informed.
ADDING DIGITAL SPACE
The administration is also working on adding a digital space to these libraries, adding computers to it. Right now, 65 such libraries have been completed and 73 are under process. “We further aim to saturate every single gram panchayat with these libraries by the end of this year,” Mr. Nagpal said.
Recently, the Deputy Chief Minister of the state visited these libraries and appreciated the efforts put in by the administration. The libraries are attracting a cross-section of people, with children, women, and senior citizens visiting them daily to read newspapers and books.
Mr. Nagpal further said, “Every library is named after a girl topper. So, it adds a social message and fulfills a social objective, as well.”
