Chitwan: Fifty-one-year-old Murali Prasad Gajurel of Khairahani VDC-4 in the district goes through a notebook containing names and phone numbers of people every day to find whose birth date falls on the day. His only purpose is to raise money to provide scholarships to children from the impoverished communities.

He then telephones the person and asks him or her to donate money on the auspicious day for a fund set up by the Khairahani Higher Secondary School. Gajurel started the campaign three years ago. His six family members were the first to donate Rs 6,500 each. Three others joined the campaign, increasing the size of the fund to Rs 58,500.

He said the campaign was launched in a bid to provide scholarship to children from deprived families. “The government only provides free education to children up to the secondary level. However, children studying in higher level are deprived of such scholarships, so I set up the fund to help them,” he added.

According to Gajurel, people in the district as well as from other districts have donated and more than Rs 1 million has been collected so far. He said they distributed scholarships worth Rs 90,000 to seventy-four students from impoverished communities in 2069-2070 BS and that preparations were under way to distribute scholarships worth Rs 100,000 to such students in 2070-2071 BS.

He said some people wish to donate money to the fund itself while others deposit it in Shuvekchha Development Bank and that the receipts would be handed over to donors. Gajurel said a total of 468 donors have contributed to the fund till now. “My plan is to expand the fund to Rs 10 million so that more students from impoverished families will be provided with an opportunity to pursue their studies,” he said. Bharat Prasad Pokhrel, the school’s headmaster, said people do not hesitate to offer money, which otherwise would have be spent in their birthday celebration, to the fund.

Gajurel said he had to go to Saudi Arabia after quitting studies due to poverty. “I could not study. There are many people like me who want to pursue their studies but cannot afford to do so due to poverty. This is why I launched this campaign,” he said.

source: the kathmandu post,2 march 2014