A senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, Basant Rath, is distributing free books among the students of Kashmir, wanting them to be more knowledgeable.
On every Sunday students from Srinagar and other areas lineup at Basant’s official residence – Hut Number 224 Chashmashahi – to receivethe books. Even books are sent through courier services to youth who are notable to reach Basant’s residence because of one or other.
Many a students contact Basant on social networking sitesFacebook and Twitter, besides email.
The books he distributes are of varied subjects that includescience, arts, engineering, economics and journalism.
“I purchase the books from Delhi, Jammu and Srinagar fordistribution,” Basant told Greater Kashmir. “I also purchase some from SrinagarSunday market.” He denied revealing exact number of books he has distributed inlast months.
The senior police officer says that he carries baggage ofhis childhood. “Can’t forget the days when I was 11 years old and wanted to bemost knowledgeable person,” he said. “Can’t forget the day when my mother usedto starve for me so that I can study.”
The outreach, he said, has no particular aim and willcontinue. “I want students of Kashmir must study,” he said. “They must be mostknowledgeable people.”
Hailing from Odisha, Basant, who studied sociology atJawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, cleared the UPSC examination in 2000 andmade it to the IPS.
When Basant was posted as the Inspector General (Traffic) inSrinagar, he found himself in trouble with the elites on several occasions.
Basant has earned plaudits for streamlining the trafficsystem in Jammu and Kashmir in less than one year of being appointed asInspector General of Police (Traffic). Later he was transferred to Home Guardswing of J&K Police.
Earlier in 2007, Abdul Gani Mir, IPS, had initiated freecounselling to the youth of J&K for various competitive examinations. He,along with some other officers, would visit educational institutions to provideguidance for competitive exams to students.
To fill that gap of guidance, he started the Initiative forCompetition Promotion (ICP) in 2008 for civil services aspirants of the state.Nearly 50 officials, both civil and police, have been making donations to runthe ICP where students are provided free accommodation and coaching throughoutthe year.