Lending a helping hand to the needy and poor students of their town, two youths from the Magam area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district have set up a library to provide all sorts of study material and other books free of cost to those who cannot afford the same.
The youngsters Zahid Hussain , M. tech in electrical engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi and Aqib Baba, B tech in civil engineering, have come up with the idea of setting up a library in their home town to benefit a chunk of youngsters in pursuing their dreams.
Zahid Hussain has completed his M. Tech. degree in electrical engineering from Jamia Millia University Delhi while Aqib has a B. Tech. degree from IUST Awantipora.
Zahid and Aqib have named the library as “Allama Iqbal Library Cum Study,” where students and aspiring youngsters from several areas of the Baramulla and Budgam districts visit every day for study purposes.
This library provides free books for competitive exams, including IAS, KAS, JKSSB, SSC, NEET, JEE, JRF, NET, SET. It also includes the study material for classes 11 and 12. Apart from the books, the library is equipped with wifi and free newspaper editions for reading purposes.
Speaking to Rising Kashmir, Zahid said “We have studied together since childhood. We have pursued higher education in the same university. When we were studying at IUST Awantipora, we decided to open a library wherein we could provide free books and other facilities to the orphans and poor children in their hometown.”
Zahid revealed that he was inspired to set up a library in his home town after he saw how libraries in other states of the country function 24 hours a day and provide all the students with all the basic facilities.
“It inspired both of us to start a similar library in our area to assist young, budding students who can’t afford books or other relevant study material,” he said.
Another youth involved in the initiative Aqib Baba said “We have spent nearly Rs 4 lakh to build the library’s infrastructure. Presently, the library has more than 450 books for the UPSC, competitive exams, and NEET exams.”
“The library has 80 individual cabins where about 80 students can study for 24 consecutive hours at a time.” they revealed.
Adding, “We have a 24-hour light backup, drinking water facilities, and a wifi connection.”
They said they had reserved seats in the library for orphans and poor students who can not afford to purchase reading material and books. Everything is provided free of cost to all such students.
Zahid and Aqib said that the people should focus on their goals and acquire knowledge from reading books.
One of the regular visitors of the library SnoberImtiyaz is preparing for her JKSSB exams. She said since the library was set up in her area, it has helped her a lot.
“Earlier, I was visiting the Srinagar-based libraries, where I was preparing for the JKSSB-related exams.
After this library has been opened in my area, I have saved my time that I mostly spent traveling. It also helps me to save some money that I would have spent on travel. It is a good opportunity for those girl students who could not travel to other places, as these facilities are now available in our area,” she added.
