Indian village Stands Up to Take Action
In the fringes of the capital of India resides a small village without any basic facilities. Tired of unkept promises by political leaders it decided to Stand Up and Take Action to set up its first school for the children of the village.
Badarpur Khadar, New Delhi: About 10 kilometers from the capital city Badapur Khadar situates itself with the population of 3000 people. With almost inaccessible roads and no healthcare facilities in the nearest thirteen kilometers, it is a shocking reality to discover this space where people are striving hard to make ends meet.
Taking the campaign ‘Stand Up and Take Action,’ forward National Conference for Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) today inaugurated the first school in this village. Present at the occasion were Salil Shetty, Director, UN Millennium Campaign, Ashok Bharati, Chairman of NACDOR and Convenor, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, along with several other dignitaries.
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The Muslim dominated village has no basic facilities. After years of false promises from leaders who only came to them during elections, the villagers have taken it on themselves to change their fate and strive for a better life. The obvious choice was educating the children of the village.
About 100 children have already enrolled and started learning Hindi and English. The students seem extremely excited and so are the parents and elders.
However it is just the beginning for them. The village has also suffered recently deaths of young people from dengue and young women during child birth. They said it was about time they stopped expecting anybody to come to their rescue and take action themselves.
Unaware of pledging and international dates designated for anti poverty actions, the villagers of Badarpur today created history by inaugurating the school. The salary for the teacher comes from the village itself. They already have built physical boundaries for the school site. The construction is about to begin with support from NACDOR
The shining eyes of the children were full of dreams as they received books from the guests. The younger generations who largely work as daily wage labourers are now feeling confident that their next generation would have access to education and better prospects.
As organisations and anti poverty campaigners pledge and join hands for a poverty free world, today the people of Badarpur Khadar have emerged as the real activists and have made the Stand Up and Take Action campaign achieve its aim in the true sense.
