Sardar Patel e-Library in Sirsa lies abandoned for two years

At the Government Senior Secondary School of Panniwala Mota village, Sirsa district, the Sardar Patel E-Library is gathering dust, with its modern facilities and resources left unused.

The e-library was set up two years ago by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) with an investment of around Rs 20 lakh. It was inaugurated on August 30, 2022, by the then Additional Chief Secretary of the Power Department, PK Das, and DHBVN Managing Director PC Meena. Initially, the library was meant to be built at another location in the village, but due to a lack of space, it was constructed in a single room of the government school.

The library was meant to be managed by the village panchayat committee. It includes modern amenities such as chairs, tables, two air conditioners, separate cabins, four computers, e-books, fast internet and hundreds of books.

Despite these facilities, the library has not benefited the village’s youth. The computers and other equipment have collected a thick layer of dust and two computers are missing. When asked, the school management stated that the missing computers were moved to the school office.

Although the school management claims that students use the e-library for exam preparation, the reality is that it has remained closed for a long time. The school has its own library and the e-library was specifically established for the village’s students to benefit from modern facilities for free. However, no student from the village has ever used the library.

A few months ago, the village youth club raised concerns about the library’s inaccessibility to the village youth. The school management cited lack of official approval. Even after two years, the e-library has not been made available to either the school students or the village youth. The library is under the charge of a schoolteacher, who confirmed that it has not been opened for months.

Manjeet Kumar, the newly appointed principal of the school, stated that he was unaware of the issue but would take steps to ensure the village students benefited from the library.

The village sarpanch, Manjubala Beniwal, also expressed concern, stating that the library should serve the entire village, not just the school. She suggested that if the library could be relocated to another site, the panchayat would provide the necessary space.

Villagers like Dinesh Kumar and Vikram Singh are frustrated, as they feel that such a valuable resource should not go to waste. They argued that the government should ensure that the library is fully operational so that both school students and the youth of the village couldn benefit from it.

Vikram Singh said the failure to open and properly maintain the library had led to disappointment, as it was created with the intention of providing educational opportunities to young people in the village.