22 year old Harsh Kumar is studying B.Tech in Gaya College, one of the premier institutes of Bihar. A resident of Amhara village on the outskirts of Patna, the capital of Bihar. About 45 kilometers from the city centre, Kumar’s father is a small-scale farmer, and the family struggles to make ends meet. After graduating from the government-run Amhara High School, he wanted to work towards a degree in engineering, but there were hardly any books available to crack the Bihar Joint Entrance Competitive Examination for admission to various professional courses. “I was unable to buy books for studies. Had it not been for ‘Didi’s Library’ I would not have been in this course,” says Kumar.
Launched last year by the Bihar government, the Community Libraries and Career Development Centers (CLCDC) in 100 blocks of the state are known as ‘Didi ki Library’ (roughly translating to library run by elder sister). Free libraries in 32 out of 38 districts are a boon for children who come from families who cannot afford books. The library provides free internet services and a quiet space for children to read and young people to meet and exchange ideas.
Patna district has four such libraries in Bihta, Khusrupur, Fatuha and Bakhtiyarpur, all of which are in rural areas. Across Bihar, ‘Didi’s Library’ has a seating capacity of 6,000 people, while the total enrollment is 1.1 lakh, of which 63% are girls. According to Jeevika, an initiative under the Rural Development Department of the Bihar government to promote rural livelihoods, 60-70 learners come daily.
World Bank-supported Jeevika runs ‘Didi ki Libraries’, each led by a Vidya Didi, a dedicated cadre of community workers. The education department supports this initiative by providing books.
a village became happy
Rinku Kumari, 21, graduated with a degree in history from Mahant Madhusudan College, Patna in 2024, He Spends five to six hours every day in the library. “I want to crack the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam and I can’t afford the tuition fees at a coaching institute,” she says.
Fees for coaching institutes start from ₹5,000 per month. According to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the average income of a farmer in Bihar in 2021-22 was ₹9,252, while the national average was ₹13,661.
In Amhara, he finds books that will help him crack the entrance exam, which at least 1 million people from across India write every year for just over 1,000 posts. She admits that books are limited, but says, “With WiFi, I’m able to download free books online.”
The library in Amhara village has been painted yellow and has Mahatma Gandhi’s message on avoiding the seven sins written in Hindi. It has three rooms with a seating capacity of 60 people at a time and more than 1,200 books on the shelves. Inside the rooms are photographs of former President APJ Abdul Kalam and freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose as well as maps of India and the world, which are a window to possibilities. Like most other libraries, it has cubicles, student chairs with desk extensions, ceiling fans, power backup, a water filter, CCTV cameras and LED screens. They also get a couple of newspapers and magazines each.
Archana Kumari, Vidya Didi of Amhara Library, says, “As soon as the form for any competitive exam is published, I inform the children and then help them fill it. We also provide printouts, so they do not need to go to the city for any work related to filling the forms.
She further says that when the library opened in February 2023, there were 30 children in it. Now, Amhara has 1,765 registered members. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opened the first library in Madhepura district.
The library is open eight hours a day, from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays; And also during exams on Sunday. The library has both fiction and non-fiction, including Bihar Board textbooks from classes 8 to 12 as well as sample answer papers. Children can have books issued, although the preference is for them to read on site.
A view of ‘Didi’s Library’ located in Amhara village of Patna district. , Photo courtesy: Amit Bhelari
Some of the most popular books that help students learn English include Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis and Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionarylike books animal farmGeorge Orwell’s political satires are also popular.
In Hindi, our constitution By Subhash Kashyap and India’s freedom struggle Well thumbed up, by a group of writers. It also has many books for students to prepare for railways, banking and other competitive exams including National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
A library is usually a distant dream in a village in Bihar. The state saw a 20.46% dropout rate at the secondary level in 2021-22, the highest across India. The national average was 12.6%.
According to Archana, many students who frequent the library have got admission in top institutes of Bihar like Development Management Institute (DMI). Many people have graduated with a B.Ed degree which will qualify them for teaching jobs.
Mathura Prasad, 54, who lives in Amhara, says, “Ever since the library opened, it has changed things for us. Earlier our children used to sit at home and do nothing, just listen to family gossip. “We can’t afford a separate room for study.” Most of the children studying in the library walk 5 km to 7 km to reach there; Some cycles.
reading room
These libraries are emerging as a local support system to increase participation of rural children and marginalized learners in higher education. They also provide an opportunity to the families associated with the Self Help Groups to enhance their skills in their chosen livelihood.
There are 1,408 registered children in Makhdumpur Panchayat in Jehanabad district of Bihar. The library operates on the first floor of the Panchayat Bhawan in Kohra village.
Pawan Kumar, a 21-year-old student pursuing B.Sc. from Surendra Prasad Yadav College, Gaya, says, “We are a joint family of 10 members and studying at home is difficult. So, I started coming here four months ago. Now, I am regular. There is no unnecessary gossip and conversations revolve around studies. “I first heard the word library when this place opened.”
“I come here to study and complete my homework,” says Gudiya Kumari, 15, a resident of Makhdumpur village, studying in Class 9 in a government high school. Something or the other goes on in the house most of the time. My mother asks me to attend to the household chores, due to which I sometimes become unable to complete my homework. Then the teacher would yell at me. Here he gets a peaceful environment to work.
The students leave from Didi’s library, where they do homework and study. , Photo Courtesy: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Faizan Tanvir, social development manager (SDM) of Jehanabad district, says the main objective of such a center is to develop library culture in rural areas and promote reading among underprivileged students. It also aims to address the issues of child marriage, child labor and gender-based discrimination by empowering adolescents, especially girls.
“Didi’s Library’ helps identify learners with special needs and provides them advice, guidance and training support. By connecting teens and youth with education and career opportunities, we hope to create local role models,” says Tanveer.
Vidya Didi Shabnam Raza of Kohra Library says that the digital library is used for webinars, career workshops, skill training and preparatory courses, various entrance exams in universities and competitive exams for jobs.
“We have collaborated with the distance learning National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). So, we also provide admission assistance for students,” she says.
It aims to empower first-generation learners who face cultural and socio-economic barriers to aspire to better education in school and college. Each library is equipped with a desktop computer and projector. Government officials are also invited to deliver guest lectures to the learners and give them career counselling.
big picture planning
Some students complain about the speed of WiFi, due to which they are not able to download large files easily. Makhdumpur area manager Santosh Kumar says, “We have a BSNL net service connection, and being in a rural area, we face problems like wire theft. We have requested for a private internet connection which has better service.
Jeevika launched the education initiative in 2018 in a phased manner. The first partnership began with Pratham Education Foundation, an innovative education organization. Gradually, partnerships grew with other non-profit organizations such as I-Saksham, which focuses on the leadership of young women, and Turn the Bus, which works in the digital education sector.
Himanshu Sharma, IAS officer and chief executive officer-cum-state mission director, Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (JEEVICA), says, “Education is a proven tool to address generational poverty. CLCDC aims to bridge the gap between disadvantaged rural youth and their urban peers. “Special focus has been given to empowering girls who face barriers to higher education.” He further said that they are planning to scale this initiative to 1,671 panchayats for equal access to education and career opportunities.
CLCDC has also made some achievements. He has conducted 34 webinars on higher education and career development. More than 2,500 children had applied for technical, vocational and professional courses with career counseling support, and 110 have got admission, including two girls at Miranda House and one at Daulat Ram College, both colleges of Delhi University. Come under and are considered prestigious.
Six students got admission into the Post Graduate Program in Development Management (PGDM) MBA course with a scholarship of ₹32 lakh. This year, 62 of those who visited these libraries have been selected as Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) teachers.
published – December 21, 2024 06:34 PM IST
