Working for a better tomorrow

A little guidance, a little support and a little care can help in changing someone’s life and that is what exactly happened, when Sunil Razdan and Adm (Rtd.) H C Malhotra came up with the idea of Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya: A school after school, for underprivileged children.

Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya is both for boys and girls, each in nearly equal numbers, living in an abominable condition in the jhuggies (slums) on the Yamuna Belt. 

The school has been functioning in an open public park for two hours, everyday since its inception in 2006.

The underprivileged students of Gyan Shakti Vidayala, with the help of their supportive teachers organised a drama event Chanakya on Friday evening to celebrate the 10th year of this unique initiative.

While the programme was aided by Samir Jain, Indeutch Pvt Ltd, the NGO is funded by Civil Society and individual donors. Ex-chief minister Sheila Dikshit along with other eminent personalities had graced the event. 

The 7th annual play, Chanakya showcased the political views of Chanakya, a teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor during the Mauryan Empire. Chanakya is considered as the pioneer of Political Science and his work is thought of as an important precursor to Classical Economics.

The endless effort of the students and teachers beautifully portrayed the character of Chanakya. 

The hard work of both the students and teachers made the show a worthwhile watch. As part of this event, the teachers talked about their enthusiasm and experience while creating this drama. They also shared their  conviction and the mutual cooperation for fulfillment of the desired aspirations.

Adm (Rtd.) H C Malhotra opened up about the event saying, “Our main motive is to inspire the socially and economically backward students to become responsible, capable and employable citizens with pride and sense of belonging, by providing them educational needs along social, health and hygienic care”. 

On how the aim could be achieved, he said, “By supporting their mainstream education in Delhi government schools and also additionally covering their activity based learning beyond their academics learning to enhance their communication skills, self confidence and by generating awareness among them will bring real transformation”.

The Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya is an NGO with 430  children, out of whom a few have moved on to earn their  livelihood, after acquiring  the skills of their choice. Steria Noida has also enlightened the area by installing street lights. The school is managed by a core group of volunteers.

Adm (Rtd) HC Malhotra also believes  that the root cause of poverty is way beyond a single NGO’s power to change, but their school is giving its best with supportive teachers and donor to bring the change.