Ganga, the daughter of a landless farmer, who walked barefoot more than two hours each way to attend classes in English at the Government High School in Ganol , near Kasauli, struck a chord with  the Khushwant Singh Foundation after the scholarships initiated by the Foundation helped Ganga get her first pair of shoes. In the last 10 years many aspiring  and determind little girls like Ganga got access to facilities like a school library that has opened up their imaginations to the likes of Enid Blyton and Harry Potter, amongst many others

What started as a small project aimed at a few children, now with the involvement of the Himachal Government and the enterprising Rakesh Kanwar has extended its reach to over ten thousand students from over a thousand schools.

In line with the philosophy and thoughts of  eminent writer and journalist Khushwant Singh,  The Khushwant Singh Foundation , which has been organising  Khushwant Singh Literary Festival (KSLF) for the last ten years,  has taken a big leap forward by embarking on two projects for school children in their decennial year. 

Giving this information Chairperson of the Trust, Rahul Singh,  said the  first venture involved raising a water harvesting project in a school in Ghanol village,  near Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh.He said the school,  due to its location, had no provision of water for children even as the village also faced serious water problem The Foundation undertook the water harvesting project, which is almost completed, and would start providing water to the school.  Rahul said in due  course the project would benefit  the  entire village with regular supply of water.

Under the second initiative of the Foundation,  100 school girls from poor families, including those who have been displaced from  Afghanistan,  would be given scholarships to pursue their studies. They hope this will further the empowerment of women.

Rahul said the scholarship holders would be in the Kasauli and Himachal region, while an NGO has been contacted for identifying Afghan girl beneficiaries. 

Both the projects aim at realising the dream and philosophy of Khushwant Singh , who has been a constant inspiration for the KSLF which is held in Kasauli and London every year. 

These projects are also supported by Crowdfunding. For further details see https://kslitfest.com/crowdfunding/