In Photos | School Razed in Delhi: ‘Don’t Slum Kids Have Right to Education?’

A week after the demolition, The Quint visited the site where the makeshift school once stood.

A makeshift school in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar was demolished by PWD on 11 January.

(Photo: Aakriti Handa)

“I wasn't doing anything illegal on this land. They could have at least given us a day's notice," lamented Naresh Pal, who ran a tuition-cum-vocational studies centre for underprivileged children in east Delhi -- till before it was demolished by the city's Public Works Department (PWD) on 11 January.

Five days after the make-shift centre near Mayur Vihar Phase-1 metro station was demolished, remnants were strewn all around -- broken swing sets, paint brushes, a white board, book shelves, and even jigsaw puzzles and toys that young children used to play with.

The school catered to around 200 children who live in nearby slums.

“It was a makeshift school. If they would’ve given prior notice, I could have moved it to another place. But the PWD came in with four machines and demolished it, destroyed everything that we had built over years within three hours,” 29-year-old Pal told The Quint.

He said that the school was built in 1993 using sustainable material donated out of goodwill. In September 2022, Microsoft President Brad Smith and American actor-comedian Trevor Noah visited the school and inaugurated a weather lab, keeping in mind the challenges faced by a school run in the open.

Pal had reopened the school in 2020, right before COVID-19 hit. During the second wave, the school also acted as a primary health care centre, and even coordinated the supply of oxygen cylinders in the area, said Pal.

Meanwhile, a senior PWD official told The Indian Express that the anti-encroachment drive took place after orders were received from the PWD as well as the District Magistrate and added that more such drives are set to take place as and when orders are received.

The Quint visited the site where the makeshift school once stood and spoke to Pal; parents whose children studied in the school; and those whose livelihoods have been thrown open in Delhi’s biting-cold winter. Classes now continue without a roof and proper equipment but 100 percent attendance and enthusiasm.

This is an old photograph of a makeshift school being run for slum children under a flyover near Mayur Vihar Phase 1 in east Delhi, before it was demolished by the city's PWD. It was  shared by Naresh Pal, who runs the school for free. The school, started by Gurmit Singh Lobana in 1993, was being run by Pal since 2020. He was associated with the school between 2011 and 2016 as its manager. Nearly 200 children from the neighbouring slums came here to get additional help with subjects they found hard to follow at their regular school. Students from class one to eight attend sessions here.

In addition to Pal and his siblings Vikram and Umrila, three more teachers take classes here. Even after the demolition, the school is functioning in shifts.  Earlier, they had special computer classes and library sessions too.

“We had 15 Dell laptops given to us by Jeevan Stambh Foundation to teach children. We just about took them out before the demolition,” said Pal.

"We used to take vocational training classes for skill development too. This included painting, sewing, computer classes and vermicomposting. At least 75 percent students were girls, and that is primarily because we took no fee," said Pal.

“Parents don’t mind spending money to teach their sons. Lekin ladkiyon ko padhana doosron ka kaam hai (But, it is someone else’s job to teach their daughters),” he remarked. As an incentive to bring more children to the school, Pal provided free books, stationery, school bags, and dresses.

This is 43-year-old Ram Kishore, who had moved to Delhi about 20 years ago. He lived in a shanty in Delhi’s Trilokpuri but moved back to his village in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, during the COVID-19 induced lockdown. The move, he said, affected his daughters’ education, and so he shifted back to Delhi in June 2022. "I put up a shanty in the Yamuna Khader area, where this after-school existed," he said. His daughters --  Shivani,15, and Shruti, 13 – who attend regular school at Raj Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya took extra classes here.

After his house got destroyed in the rains that hit Delhi in July 2022, Ram Kishore  started living at the make-shift school and working there as a caretaker.

“Mere heart pe stent padhne waale the jis din school tod diya. Us din se sadak pe hi so rahe hain. (I was supposed to get operated for stents in my heart the day they came and demolished the school. Since then, we’ve been sleeping out in the open),” Kishore told The Quint.

There are many challenges to running a school in the open too, but Pal said that they worked their ways around it too. “We chose this place because we needed a roof. The flyover was our roof. It gave us shade during the summer months. We planted bel, which helped keep the surroundings cool. We had solar panels powering the fans. It was a sustainable model,” said Pal.

Microsoft President Brad Smith and actor-comedian Trevor Noah inaugurated the weather lab here in September 2022, Pal said. "This helped us track rains. We would move to higher ground during the monsoon to prevent the school from getting flooded. All material used to build the school is potable and temporary. It could have been easily relocated had PWD given us due time,” said Pal, as he mourned the loss and stared at the broken pieces of the school he had nurtured.

When asked about how he gets funds to run the school, Pal quipped that all of it is because of goodwill and his network, which he created when he was preparing for his UPSC exams and pursuing his Masters in Social Work. He is now pursuing his PhD from Singhania University in Rajasthan.

“A revenue officer helped get the solar panels, Karma Foundation helped with the furniture, and the toilets were donated by Andhra Foundation. That  white board you see... I rummaged from a coaching centre that had closed down. It was stuff worth Rs 16-18 lakh,” said Pal.

Geeta lives in a shanty in the Yamuna Khadar area, with her husband Kishan Pal and four children Suman, Pooja, Amit and Arvind. Originally from UP's Badaun, Geeta and Kishan work as farm labour behind the school. Three of her four children went to Pal’s school. “I sent them there so they could get better at their studies and pick up some skills in their free time. That kept them constructively occupied while we toiled away in the fields. The school was close by, it was free, and it was the only hope that my children will be able to fend for themselves when they grow up,” she said.

“We often conducted awareness programmes, and set up health camps for those living in the slums nearby. It wasn’t just a school. It was a community centre,” said Pal.

“If a labourer is not paid well, how can he be expected to live in a proper house? Of course, they have to live in slums. Is it wrong for them to expect their children to receive primary education?” asked Pal .  

Pal said he now plans on challenging the action of the PWD by filing a writ petition in Delhi High Court as the fundamental right to education of the underprivileged children was disrupted.

“Raahat do ya na do, kam se kam notice to do (Irrespective of whether you give us relief or not, at least give us a notice),” said Pal. He added that  there are hundreds of such schools being run in Delhi and that he hoped that they do not suffer a similar fate.

This is Seelam Devi from Patna, who works as a farm labour in the fields in the Yamuna Khadar area. Her daughter Priyanka, who goes to a government-run school, was learning sewing at the after-school. Seelam's youngest daughter Suman had recently joined the school. "I want my children to become something. But now they have demolished the school. The authorities might even demolish our shanty. I earn Rs 300 per day on days I do get work. How will we afford their education?” asked Seelam.

At 3 pm on Monday, children started trickling in for their shift as usual. “Structure hi toh toda hai, iraade thodi na tode hain (They have broken the structure, but our intentions are still solid)," quipped Pal.

After the demolition, a tarpaulin spread on the stretch has been serving as the floor for the children. Despite the demolition, Pal’s class saw full attendance and enthusiasm.