Poonam, Ravinder, Shailender and Ganga Kumar, students of Classes IX and X, visited New Delhi with tour coordinator Sooraj and supervisor Jaswinder.

Sooraj, a under graduate student said, “It was an amazing experience. Students from across the country were present. We got to know how they function. The meet has provided us many ideas on improving the quality of our wall newspaper.”

The newspaper was launched by an NGO, Yuvsatta. The paper had initially begun to function with nine reporters, though the team has now swelled to a group of 13 reporters. The student reporters also conduct many surveys in different houses on social issues like collecting data on children who are not sent to schools, the problem of child labour, the condition of hygiene in the area, etc. Social issues faced by the colony residents are also discussed in the newspaper.

Poonam, a student reporter claimed, “It was my first trip out of the city. It was also my first train ride. We were involved in many activities at the conference. It also provided us a platform to interact with students from across the country.”

Shailender, another student reporter adds, “Before, we launched the wall newspaper, we used to have a lot of free time and were bored. Now instead of watching television, we are involved in a productive activity. Balancing studies and work has not been a major problem.”

The work done by the students has succeeded in bringing about noticeable changes on the colony.

The issues highlighted by the paper have resulted in a clean-up drive being launched in the colony. New roads are also being constructed. Wastelands, which used to be a haven for drug addicts has been converted into a football field.

Furthur, a group of nearly 20 students are also involved in educating illiterate women in the area. Each student is involved in teaching a batch of five women.

“The women tend to gossip more, if there are larger groups. They are given functional knowledge through various activities,” says Ganga, a student volunteer.