Munnar: In memory of the slain Maharaja's College student Abhimanyu, panchayat authorities, in coordination with the CPM local unit, has set up a library at Vattavada, his native village, in Idukki district.
Lying 43 kilometres away from Munnar on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, Vattavada is one of the most backward grama panchayats in the state with a low literacy rate. The first public lending library in the area, established with public participation, has also fulfilled Abimanyu’s long-cherished dream.
Thanks to an outpouring of donations from individuals and organisations in India and abroad, the library has so far received close to 42,000 books. “The response to the book donation drive has been overwhelming. We still receive bundles of books every day,” said Vattavada grama panchayat president P Ramraj.
Currently, the library has books on various subjects, including collections of Malayalam, Tamil and English literature apart from a good number of reference books. Situated in the second floor of the Vattavada panchayat office building, the facility includes a hall and an office room. The library will be open from 10 am to 5 pm.
We have plans to digitise the printed collection so that the content would be accessible to all, Ramraj added.
Abhimanyu, 20, a second-year undergraduate student and leader of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), was stabbed to death on the campus on July 2 after an altercation between SFI and Campus Front activists.
