25 Atal Gyan Kendras set up in Kullu panchayats

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Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, February 22

The Gram Panchayat Atal Gyan Kendra initiative of the Kullu administration, launched by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on December 25 last year, has started to bear fruit. As many as 25 Atal Gyan Kendras have been established while the process to open 25 more libraries in panchayats is going on.

Inspired by DC Ashutosh Garg’s initiative of opening libraries, the heads of gram panchayats have shown keen interest in establishing Atal Gyan Kendras. These kendras provide a 24-hour library facility to students near their homes. The students also get free Internet facility to prepare for competitive examinations. The National Book Trust and other donors have provided the books. The administration has planned to open Atal Gyan Kendras in all 235 gram panchayats of the district in a phased manner.

Garg says to increase competition among panchayats, rewards have been announced for outstanding kendras. The administration has announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh for the panchayat that secures the first position, Rs 2 lakh for the runnerup and Rs 1 lakh for the third position holder.

The district administration has prepared an assessment table of 50 marks. Five marks each have been kept for the area of the centre, seating arrangement and the number of books, and 10 marks for the facilities available in the kendras such as toilets, drinking water, tea and snacks, parking, proper lighting in the study area, computers and Internet, proper management of records and books and the formation of management committees.

Similarly, 10 marks have been fixed for convergence with other schemes, another 10 marks for encouraging public participation to be assessed on the basis of donations received ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh for buying books, furniture, hardware or other essential items for the libraries and five marks for registering people, who come to the centre regularly, enrolling permanent members and use of the library.