Aasif Noor says project aims to address educational, social challenges of underprivileged children
Anantnag, Jun 15: A philanthropist has established a slum library-cum-community centre at Anchidora village in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district to promote education and provide learning opportunities to underprivileged children.
The facility, which started functioning on Monday, has been set up as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative in Kashmir aimed at encouraging reading habits and improving access to education among children and youth from economically weaker sections of society.
The library-cum-community centre would serve as a platform for learning, skill development and constructive activities for locals, particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Malik Aasif Noor, a philanthropist who established the library, told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that he has been working in the fields of education and health for the past 16 years and has focused extensively on the welfare of slum children over the last two years. “There are around 2.5 crore registered slum children in India, but the actual number is estimated to be around 4.5 crore,” he said.
He said that while charitable activities such as distributing books and food are important, they alone cannot address the challenges faced by children living in slums. “Unless these children receive proper counselling and there is a dedicated centre to address their health, hygiene and educational needs, it is difficult to make them realise the importance of education,” he said.
Noor said the centre will focus on personal and menstrual hygiene awareness, distribution of stationery and notebooks, counselling sessions and other educational support activities.
He said the facility can also be utilised by organisations working in the health sector to conduct health check-ups, awareness programmes and other welfare initiatives for children.
Noor said similar interventions are being planned in other parts of the country. “This is a pilot project, and we have started it here first. We will take it across India,” he said, adding that groundwork has already been conducted in slum areas of Ghazipur, where over 35,000 children reside.
The philanthropist said support such as uniforms and free sanitary pads would be provided to beneficiaries, while efforts would also be made to address issues related to safe drinking water through the distribution of water filters and awareness programmes on water-borne diseases.
Noor said the project was made possible through crowdfunding and the support of donors and volunteers associated with the organisation over the years. “Education remains the key to social upliftment,” he said, pledging to continue working for the cause in the years ahead. (KNO)
