Attempting to connect and uplift the youth of a place is the best way to reach out to the people. And that is what the Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district’s first Superintendent of Police Suraj Singh Parihar did.

The district came into existence in February 2020 in Chhattisgarh, and this IPS officer on taking over charge interacted with the local children and students came up with the idea of a Police Ki Paathshala – a library and place for them to study.

Started in the memory of a policeman SN Baghel who died fighting the Maoists in Bastar, this region which is 200 kilometres from the Raipur, the capital did not have any study centre for those aspiring to clear competitive exams. 

The books in the library-cum-study centre have been crowdsourced with Parihar appealing to people on social media. Refusing to accept cash donations, he insisted on the right type of books for the students and among his first donors was his wife, a doctor.

In order to house the library, Parihar located a couple of rooms which were not being used near his office. He got them refurbished and kept books relevant to popular competitive tests there. His enthusiasm was reciprocated by the locals who donated furniture for the place.

Inspector General of Police of Bilaspur Range, Ratanlal Dangi who inaugurated the library along with Baghel's daughter, talking about the library said: “A study-friendly environment in Police-ki-Paathshala inspires aspirants in a big way to make the best use of resources while pursuing their goal.”

The library has more than 3,200 books and has more than 700 members. An annual fee of just Rs.99 is charged from the members. Further, a suggestion box in the library has been put up so that students could demand the books required by them for entrance exams and professional courses.

Also read: Bihar’s Purnea boasts of libraries in 230 panchayats and 7 urban bodies