In an effort to inculcate the habit of reading among children, a dedicated library and activity centre has been setup at Talori village, in Salooni, Chamba, which happens to be a remote region.
Kiran Bhadana, Salooni sub-divisional magistrate Indian Administrative Officer, who is the ideator behind the concept inaugurated the centre on Tuesday. A second centre is slated to follow suit in the same area. The centres are designed to nurture the natural curiosity of children. Around 200 Hindi and English books are available for children aged between three to 15. In addition, materials for fun and learning activities such as puzzles, globes, modelling clay, trampolines, toys and games have also been stocked.
“The floors at the centres have also been designed as an educational tool, following the building as learning aid (BaLA) system. We have augmented existing unused and under-utilised infrastructure,” she quoted to a publication.
She also mentioned that the model had been successfully implemented previously when five libraries were setup in Salooni for state service examinations. These centres were setup with the help of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding provided by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL), facilitated by Chamba deputy commissioner DC Rana, head of Sundla panchayat, and Salooni’s Vyapar Mandal head Pawan Kumar.
Bhadana, while overseeing the functioning of the centres, hopes that the learning centres will not only provide a platform to the children for learning activities, but set a new benchmark for the operations of Anganwadi centres, that would lead to early childhood development in a region, which has so far been considered as underdeveloped.