(From left) Kailash Kumar D. Jain and Rajesh Kumar R. Jain at the Book Bank office in Vepery
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The verandah of the Rajasthan Youth Association, tucked away in a building in Vepery, is swarming with students at 3 p.m. on a weekday, submitting applications and collecting books. Sheetal M., a third-year B.Com student who is waiting to collect her books, says: “They already know what books are required for my course. It takes away the anxiety of having to source the books and pay for them.”
The Rajasthan Youth Association, as part of its Book Bank project, has been distributing free textbooks to college students in the Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpettu districts for the past 61 years. The initiative aims to ensure that every student has access to essential textbooks.
In 1964, 29 college students from Rajasthan came together to launch the project. Their objective was to provide standard college textbooks to students from poor socio-economic backgrounds, as the books were often expensive. The initiative began with book sets for 25 students from two colleges in Chennai.
‘Addressing long-term need’
Rajesh Kumar R. Jain, who has been a part of the project for over 30 years, recalls that there was no organisation to provide textbooks, which were inaccessible to many students due to their high costs. “Though libraries answered the need, it did not address the long-term requirement of the college student,” says Mr. Rajesh.
The former chairman of the association, Mr. Rajesh deftly bundles all the textbooks required for the B.Com course and matches them to each student’s application number. “The application process to avail the books begins in June and ends by July 31. However, if someone approaches us during the year as well, we do not deny them,” he said.
Every year from July 5, around 45 to 50 association members come together in the evenings, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., to sort the books according to stream and student enrollment. “(As of) Today, over 1.5 lakh students have utilised our book bank, and presently, over 9,000 students are using it,” said Mr. Rajesh.
The students must submit the application with a caution deposit of ₹500 as well as their college fee receipt. They collect the books for the first semester, return it for the next, collect the next batch, and so on.
Various courses
The book bank offers textbooks for arts, science, and engineering courses. “We do not provide books for medical courses, as we found that students often do not return them. The books are typically needed for a lifetime and hence, we decided to stop offering them,” said Rajesh.
Chairman of Rajasthan Youth Association Kailash Kumar D. Jain said that they have over 80,000 books in stock. “It takes ₹35 lakh a year for the project to function, and we rely on donations to keep it running. While 10% of the books do suffer damage, most are in good condition,” said Rajesh.
So what’s next for the project? “We plan to partner with more colleges so that every student gets textbooks. The project needs to reach every student to ensure that books are not a deterrent for their education,” he said.
Published – June 30, 2025 05:30 pm IST
