NGO launches library for homeless in Yamuna Pushta slum
Normally, charitable organisations offer food, clothing and shelter options to the homeless and the poor, but a citybased humanitarian society has gone one step further and has attempted to provide them with a library.
At Yamuna Pushta, one of the biggest slums in the city, is home to a free library for the homeless and underpriviliged migrants. The Prayas JAC Society, in association with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board ( DUSIB), has set up the library.
The library offers “all kinds of literature, ranging from fiction to autobiographies of various world leaders, besides magazines and daily newspapers.”
“Books play an important role in the development of any society. They not only refine an individual’s life, but also serve as a beacon for future generations,” AAP MLA Alka Lamba, who inaugurated the library recently, said.
The library, which seeks to promote development of ideas through open access to “recorded knowledge, information and creative groups,” has recieved over 20,000 books in donations.
The initiative is also being viewed as an opportunity to develop relations with the homeless and to explore ways to offer them support.
“The establishment of a library for marginalised
The library offers ‘ all kinds of literature, ranging from fiction to autobiographies of various world leaders, besides magazines and daily newspapers.’
sections of the society is the need of the hour. It is by educating these sections that the real upliftment of the society will take place. The establishment of a library is an ideal benchmark for serving the society,” Bipin Rai from DUSIB said.
He also assured government assistance for such initiatives in future.
Amod Kanth, founder and general secretary of Prayas JAC Society, said the library will instill a sense of confidence in the homeless and will help in changing their perspective towards life.
“The homeless can now read books. Through this, one inspired individual will inspire many others. The addiction of books is the greatest. Once you are addicted to books, you cannot think of anything else,” Mr Kanth said.
Prayas has taken several initiatives previously to reintegrate the marginalised communities in the society, which include opening bank accounts and generating voter identity and Aadhaar cards in order to connect them with welfare schemes, besides offering regular health services.