Badarpur Khadar village finally gets its first school

Badarpur Kadar, which houses more than 3,000 families and comes under Sonia Vihar ward of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, lacks all basic facilities like proper road which even hamlets in remotest parts of the country would have.

Though part of the capital, the village -- about 10 km from the capital city -- got electricity only in 2010 and now people can hope to get their children educated next door without having to send them to a village in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh for studies.

The 'Sarvodaya Middle School', which began functioning from today will have eight teachers and will temporarily run in a rented building. About 160 students have already taken admission.

The government has also sanctioned Rs 2.34 crore to PWD for the construction of the school.

The Directorate of Education had informed the Delhi High Court last week that a school is now functional in Badarpur Khadar village in north-east Delhi.

This village is the only area in Delhi where generations have not been able to get access to education which has led to high illiteracy rates.

The opening of this school marks the beginning of 'School Bharo Abhiyaan' as a part of Bachpan Bachao Andolan's 'Child Labour Free India campaign', the BBA said in a release.

BBA had conducted a signature drive in the village in April to demand for educational facilities as even the nearest school was 8 km away from the village.

"I want to become a doctor as there is no hospital in our village which creates a lot of problem to the people here," 9- year-old Julo said while entering the school for the first time.