Saumya daughter of a maid (a student of fifth class of Nai Kiran Universal School being run by Guru Nanak Sewa Sansthan an NGO) aspires to be an IAS officer and Chandni, another very promising and bright girl of 9th class wants to be an IPS Officer. Anil, Rasal and many other equally enthusiastic boys of class 8th, 9th and 10th of the same school wish to join The Indian Armed Forces to serve the nation. Two of these boys lost their fathers sometime back due to Covid and their mothers work as house maids to support the family.
These are not isolated examples but one can find many more underprivileged children who are studying here and want to become doctors, engineers, and teachers. What is surprising is that all these children study in the open under make-shift tents braving extreme summers, chilly winters and incessant rains. Many of them are in the school say for the last seven to eight years now. It is an English Medium School having strength of about 300 students providing them free education from pre-nursery to 10th Standard. All these students are also provided with computer education from 1st class onwards.
Besides free education they are also provided free books, stationery, mid-day meals and even uniforms, both summer and winter. Here admission process never stops and goes on for the whole year so that no child gets deprived of good education.
The education process doesn’t stop here. Once the students pick up, efforts are made to get brilliant students admitted to regular schools of repute viz. DPS, Shalom Hills International school, Rotary Public School etc. So far more than 300 such students have been got admitted in these schools where again they get free education because at the time of admission the authorities are requested to put the children to test and admit them only if they find them compatible with their own students.
However, it is made clear to the authorities of these reputed schools that neither the children would be able to pay their fees nor the NGO Guru Nanak Sewa Sansthan would do so, as all the children belong to the poor strata of the society.
As far as teaching faculty is concerned it is an exemplary case. There are teachers including retired engineers, administrators and even a retired vice chancellor, who are fully devoted to the cause. Recently, a retired Army officer Colonel Gulati has also come forward to mentor the children aspiring to join the Armed Forces.
The school enjoys the honour of producing eleven MENSA scholars till now.
As per Mr. Khurana, the 77 year old founder President of the NGO, when he shifted from his home town Delhi to Ardee City, Gurugram in 2006 after retiring from Irrigation Department, Haryana, there was a small labour colony at the place where the school is located now. They had a donkey labour and whole family including children used to sleep on the floor with the donkeys. It was very painful to see the children sleeping along with the donkeys with their poop scattered here and there.
Sh. J D Khurana, President
When he along with his wife Mrs. Kamlesh Khurana used to go for a walk he could see the family going to their worksite along with the donkeys and half asleep kids. It was a very pathetic situation and we both thought of a plan to rescue these innocent children from this plight. We talked to the children, their parents, our RWA and started teaching these children in our basement parking after taking our car out. He further stated that they started with four kids and in a short span of two months the strength of the children went up to sixty four through word of mouth publicity.
All these children were provided free education, books, stationery and some refreshments.
Since the number of kids grew significantly, the RWA started objecting to the functioning of the school from within the complex and they had to move out to an abandoned dilapidated building lying vacant nearby. They started teaching the students in that building. In a short period of just six months the strength of the students grew to one hundred and fifty and the school ran short of space. Then we got the space repaired and added some more rooms and it could accommodate about two hundred children. By 2011 the strength of the children had risen to 300 and by then we had added three wash rooms, had a water- cooler with RO etc. But unfortunately then suddenly HUDA authorities demolished the school as the space belonged to HUDA and now the students had to study in the open. After a year or so said Mr. Khurana that he again covered the space with asbestos sheets but it was demolished again in 2015.
Since then they are teaching the children in the open under the tents. By 2020 the strength of the students had touched 495 but due to pandemic the school had to be closed and reopened only in 2022 with only 80 students. However, since then the strength of the children had been increasing steadily and the strength of the school has now touched 280.
Since 2015, the school has been writing to Sh. B S Hooda and Sh. M L Khattar, honorable Chief Minister of Haryana to please allot one acre of land so that these poor children can study in a good and safe environment. Moreover, then the school would get CBSE recognition and the children would also have the facility of laboratory, library and playground etc., as in any other good school. But it is sad that none of the authorities paid any attention to our pleadings and despite a good span of over 16 years the NGO is forced to teach these poor children in the open under these tattered tents and inhospitable vagaries of the weather.
Here it is pertinent to note that the Government headed by Sh. M L Khattar has also bestowed “BEST NGO” award on Guru Nanak Sewa Sansthan. The NGO has also been conferred with “JEWEL OF INDIA” and “YUGANTAR” award by different social organizations.
In addition various district officers including the commissioner, deputy commissioners, ADCs have been visiting the school and appreciating the good work done by the NGO besides Doctor Deepak Jain, Director General FII and their team also visited the school and appreciated the quality of education being imparted to the children.
It is a pity that such a well-awarded and dedicated social organization working in the interest of the society for more than a decade is not being taken care of by the Government to serve the interest of the poor strata of society.
We still have hope that someday the authorities that be will take notice of the plight of these underprivileged children and allot a piece of land for their school building.
