Students read Gandhi, stake claim for entry into World Book of Records
LUCKNOW: To inculcate reading habit among students, UP governor Anandiben Patel led the ‘Padhe Lucknow, Badhe Lucknow’ campaign, a storybook reading session here on Tuesday.
The governor sat along with the students and read a storybook in a ‘lead by example’ move for others to follow.
The district administration claimed that close to one million students from Class 6 to university level simultaneously read books in over 2,000 educational institutions in the state capital.
The campaign, which Lucknow hosted for the first time, also staked claim for entry into the World Book of Records, on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
“The initiative was a success with participation of around 9,72,125 students from 2,278 institutions in Lucknow,” said SP Singh, V-C of Lucknow University, who was the nodal officer of the campaign.
Patel reached Government Inter College, Nishatganj in the morning and sat on a chair, like other students, and got engrossed in reading a book. The students were pleasantly surprised to see her sitting in the classroom on a chair like theirs.
After the reading session, she interacted with some students and inquired about what they read, said college principal Kamlesh Kumari.
As part of the programme’s theme, the students mostly read books on the life of Mahatma Gandhi or the freedom struggle. But, they had the option of reading other material too during the session from 11am to 11:45am.
The ‘Padhe Lucknow’ event was also organised at Lucknow Jail on Tuesday. As many as 600 inmates were provided books ranging from autobiographies, poems and stories including those on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, which they read along with senior prison officials.
“The inmates actively participated in the exercise. They also showed interest in more such events,” said PN Pandey, senior prison superintendent of Lucknow jail.
A team from the World Book of Records visited LU. It was divided into three and members visited other institutions as well. For certification, LU will submit the complete data of the campaign to the members within the next few days. The team comprised Sanjay Panjwani, Pradeep Mishra, and Rajesh Shukla, as adjudicators (WBR); Yogesh Mohan Gupta, chancellor, IIMT University, Meerut; Swami Sarang, spiritual Guru and senior journalist Vijay Shukla were among those who visited other colleges.