A squad of police officers and other government officials are on a mission to establish libraries in every hamlet across the country to encourage the habit of reading and provide study materials for competitive exams for the youth. In less than 18 months, the organisation has established more than 250 libraries in villages across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, MP, Maharashtra, and Delhi.
In September 2020, the Gram Pathshala mission began in Ganauli village, Loni tehsil, Ghaziabad district.
When Lal Bhar, a resident of Ganauli village (who also works as a deputy SP in the NHRC) returned to his hometown, a group of boys approached him and suggested that the hamlet build a library.
Lal Bhar told a leading daily that he was originally surprised by their request because no one had ever asked for a library in the area. "I promised them assistance and convened a conference in the village to examine the situation." He stated, "The locals agreed to support it."
In the village, professionals and those employed by the government were contacted for assistance. They enthusiastically agreed, and the locals pooled their resources. In September 2020, the library opened in an abandoned panchayat ghar in the village.
Ajay Pal, a teacher from Bambawad village, became involved with the project as well.
Pal said that the Ganauli library had a seating capacity of 67 people. It had Internet access, Wi-Fi, and a library of diverse books, including books for various competitions.
According to Lal Bhar, the majority of village boys and girls now spend their time at the library studying for various competitive exams, as a result of which they spend less time on social media and more time studying.
Boys and girls from the neighbouring hamlet of Sirauli began attending the library after being inspired by Ganauli village's initiative.
According to Lal Bhar and Ajay Pal, this inspired them to replicate the model of self-sustaining libraries in other villages. A group led by Lal Bhar and other locals who worked for the government approached the people of Sirauli, who welcomed the concept and set up a library in their hamlet within two months.
Pal added that the group urged the locals to build their own library. It never made a profit, and its sole purpose was to advise locals on how to set up the library and make it self-sustaining. "We prefer to carry out the mission through locals who work for the government because they have more reputation in the villages, and their participation in the project helps to increase trust and confidence," Pal explained.
The effort primarily involves local cops, physicians, lawyers, teachers, engineers, and other professionals, while a separate team of people picked by them maintains the libraries in their particular villages.
Similar libraries popped up in Sirauli and Chiraudi villages in Loni, Gitayra in Baghpat, Sikanderpur in Muzaffarnagar, and Kalda, Kachina, Kudi Khera, Bambawad, Badalpur, Dujana, Kheri, Acheja, Saini, and many more villages in Gautambuddha Nagar.
Gram Pathshala is the name of the trust that the group has founded. Pal claimed that it was done solely to prevent the name from being stolen. No one has been granted a position in the trust, and everyone is just a regular member.
He went on to say that the people ran the libraries with their own money, making them self-sustaining.
The organisation has set a goal of establishing comparable libraries in 6,64,369 towns across the country.