Since four years, Chandigarh’s Sandeep Kumar is helping students who can’t afford to buy books due to the financial conditions of their families. Kumar, who runs an NGO named as “Open Eye Foundation”, has been running a unique initiative called ‘Raddi se Shiksha’ where he goes door-to-door to collect books and stationery, later distributing them to underprivileged children.
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” – Albert Einstein
In last week’s Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appreciated the social worker and said, “In Chandigarh, Sandeep Kumar who runs an NGO, has set up a mobile library in a minivan, through which, the poor children are given books to read free of cost.”
How the journey began
After graduation, Sandeep Kumar took up the Junior Basic Training (JBT) Course, which gave him a chance to teach students in government and private schools upto class 5.
“After the two-year course, one is appointed for an internship in a government school, where one has to teach for 6 months. So, I was appointed in a village in Haryana where I had to teach Class 3 students. I noticed that the students did not have even basic things such as notebooks, pen, pencil etc. Children will learn and move forward in life only if they write and practice what has been taught to them,” Sandeep Kumar said.
“Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, government provides free education to students till Class 8 along with a certain amount of money for books and stationery, which is transferred directly to their accounts. Sadly, this money ends up being used for other things as the parents of these kids cannot afford to put even two square meals in a day,” he continued.
“I was disturbed by this situation and when I returned to Chandigarh, I wondered about the state of affairs of the students in this city. It was shocking to find that the condition of tricity was worse, comparatively,” said Sandeep Kumar.
‘Raddi se Shiksha’ Abhiyaan
“So I thought of working for these kids and commenced the ‘Raddi se Shiksha’ Abhiyaan. I started collecting all things related to education such as books, stationary, lunch boxes, pencil boxes, etc. We reuse old books and make new notebooks using old copies, registers and files.
To make the most of our resources, I use the blank pages found in old or half-used notebooks and make a new one. We have tied up with government colleges and schools in slum areas where we send books and stationary. Not only this, we also supply sanitary napkins to women.”
“We have an office in Khuda Lahora, where we have built the library. Any student can get a book issued from there.”
Lockdown period
“For the lockdown period, we got a special van which has the library on one side and an LED television is attached to the other side. We delivered books, ration, and sanitary napkins to students in every part of the tricity during the lockdown.”
“We also started delivering Braille books to the visually challenged students during this period. We collect every type of subject book ranging from Class 1 to MBBS, even fiction and spiritual books. Except clothes and shoes, one can donate anything related to education such as stationary, sanitary pads and electrical gadgets like laptops, mouse, etc.” Sandeep Kumar added.
This festive season, when you take out your old books while cleaning the house, light up someone else’s Diwali by donating them. They may not be of any value to you, but the same books could be a stepping stone towards a better future for someone.
