Ekal Vidyalaya runs single-teacher schools in Bharat in the most remote or tribal areas on a shoestring budget of $1.00 per day per school educating 30- 40 children.  A school typically has students up to the level of third grade and a school supported for about five years becomes financially self-sufficient.

On the evening of 25 September 2011, three senior officals of the Ekal Vidyalaya movement were in Lexington, MA. The officials were Mr. Shyam Gupta, director of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, Dr. C. Satheesh Kumar, Ekal Global Coordinator and Mr. Sankaran Sabramanium secretary Ekal Chapter in Kerala. Also present was the vice prisedent of Ekal USA, Mr. Vinod Jhunjhanwala who donates over $20,000 every year.   Mr. Ram Nehra who is the president of the New England chapter of Ekal Vidyalaya. said that Mr. Shyam Gupta is a visionary who understand the problems of poor adavasi people in India.  He travels extensively in the most remote areas & jungles of India & is a source of inspiration for the hundreds of volunteers.

Mr. Puran Dang, being the chairman of the New England Chapter of Ekal Vidyalaya, greeted them at his home where he and his wife Kamlesh ji, also hosted a dinner for the participants in the gathering.  The gathering comprised volunteers and supporters of the movement and also a many who were introduced to the movement for the first time. 

The major portion of the meeting was a presentation by Dr. Kumar on the progress the movement was making. He said that Ekal movement is the largest, grassroots, non - government education movement in India, operating in over 36,000 villages and educating over ONE MILLION adavasi children in rural India. He added that Ekal Foundation is a secular, non-partisan (or non-religious, non-political) 501 (c) (3) registered non-profit charity education organization.  He described the nationwide growth, a few hurdles being faced, and how a steady progress was being made to keep the villagers motivated to remain with their lands while becoming literate and healthier.  He further said that Ekal’s goal is to reach 100,000 villages by 2015 in line with the UN Millennium Development goals & asked every one for the support to reach this goal.

Mr. Shyam Gupta, Dr. C. Satheesh Kumar, and Mr. Sankaran also fielded the questions of the attendees.  They underlined that owing to an extremely efficient use of donations and by keeping the management highly localized for the villagers, the movement was able to achieve many goals otherwise difficult for a government or a typical non-profit or not-for-profit organization.  A great transparency in the use of resources and schools always welcoming the donors were reasons further to strengthen the movement.

Mrs. Geeta Singh thanked the officials for including New England in their itinerary and Mrs. and Mr. Dang to be the hosts.  The officials concluded the event with a request for the time of the volunteers to spread the idea even further.

Finally, their 5K Walk for Literacy is scheduled for Oct. 2 at 9:30 am at the Francis William Bird Park in Walpole, MA.

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