An enlightening endeavour

Operating on the principle of self-reliance, Pardada Pardadi School in Bulandshahr has been imparting all-round education to marginalised girls

When this NRI, Virendra Singh, walked to receive the Nexus of Good Annual Award, not many were aware of the wonderful initiative he had taken in a remote place in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. He is indeed the modern-day Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya. If Malviya had taken donations from princely states and common people to set up Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Virendra Singh, fondly called Sam, has been seeking donations from India and abroad, to set up a Higher Secondary School — Pardada Pardadi School — for 3,000 students in Anupshahr town of Bulandshahr district. He has gone a step ahead. His motto is to provide employment to each student of his school.

In this exclusive girls’ school, everything is on the house. Books, stationery, two sets of uniforms, education, a three-time meal, school bus and even laptops and computer tablets — everything is free of cost. Each student also gets a scholarship of Rs 10 for every day she attends the school. And, above all, each pass-out has a guaranteed white-collar job.

Each child entering the school is taught to be self-reliant from the very beginning. Presently, 112 ex-students of this school are working in different software firms in Bengaluru’s Silicon Valley, while 141 former students are pursuing various professional courses in different educational institutes in the country. Several students have been receiving scholarships to various courses in foreign universities. Priyanka and Radha of this school are drawing a hefty package of Rs 8 lakh per annum.