15 km from Indo-Pak Border, village of ‘Adhiyapaks’ in Punjab: 450 govt job holders, 250 of them teachers

And it all started courtesy the dreams of one man.

Kuljit Singh Dangarkhera, a Punjabi teacher of this village, got a government job in 1997. Since then, Kuljit has turned out to be the driving force behind Dangar Khera’s passion to study and subsequently get into government jobs.

The entry gate of village Dangar Khera in Fazilka. (Express Photo)

“When I got my job way back in 1997, there hardly would be one or two people from this village who used to get selected in government jobs. There were years when no one was selected at all from our village. The soil of this village is not very fertile, the ground water is unfit for drinking. We are mostly dependent on canal water.

There are no industries located here to provide employment. Hence, studying and getting jobs is the only thing we could have done to survive. I am glad that I have managed to motivate several others to follow in my footsteps,” a proud Kuljit told The Indian Express.

Kuljit added,”My 21-year-old daughter got recruited as ETT teacher two years ago, while my son is studying clinical psychology.”

In the results for the recruitment of elementary trained teachers (ETT) in primary schools declared in July this year, nearly 30, of the 5994 openings, were bagged by residents hailing from Dangar Khera.

“Dangar Khera should be renamed Adhiyapak Khera. We are like a factory churning out teachers who are then staffed at various government schools across the state,” said Surinder Kumar, a local resident who himself teaches accounts and business studies at the Government Senior Secondary School in Sabuana village, around 30 km from Dangar Khera. Surinder has two daughters — the elder one pursuing MBBS, and the younger one in Class 9 and a state-level cricketer.

Surinder added, “When Kuljit got a job as a Punjabi teacher, he felt his students too should excel. He has immense amounts of passion. Many students used to come to his place to study in the initial years, before the coaching centres and reading rooms opened up. He then started guiding students about how to take various recruitment exams. His students in turn started helping youngsters in preparing for recruitment exams. It was like a chain of events. Around a decade ago, we got two coaching institutes in the village. In the last 2 years, five reading rooms have come up here which also double up as libraries.”

The village at present has two coaching centres, which cater for preparation of only competitive exams for various jobs, five paid reading rooms, and 2-3 coaching centres for school students.

The reading rooms remain open 24×7 and students get to choose a convenient when they want to come there and study.

Sanjay Kargwal, who runs one of the library-cum-reading rooms, said, “I am a graduate. I am preparing for entrance exams for government jobs. I run a reading room in Dangar Khera on the side. It is fully air conditioned. We provide drinking water, newspapers, and power backup for those who come to study here. My reading room can fit 40 people at a time. There is one discussion room as well, where students sit and relax and at times even eat their lunch. We charge Rs 800 per month from people who want to come and study here at any time of the day. People who opt for night study (post 8pm) only need to pay Rs 500 per month. A few of the people who come here work during the day and study during the night, mostly between 8pm – 1 am. A few students are comfortable studying during night hours only. Some others prefer the early morning hours. Though the centre is open 24×7, there is normally no one here between 1 am-5 am. The hall from where i run my reading room has been rented out by me.”

Sanjay ‘s younger sister Renu Kargwal got selected as ETT teacher two months ago.

Surinder stated that the village has around 4000 acres of agricultural land, where primarily cotton is grown. “We have all kinds of people living here. We have rich landlords who own 100 acres of land. We also have families that own anywhere between two and five acres or no land at all,” he said.

“Even married women can be seen studying in these reading rooms. There are no taboos here. Even our daughters-in-law can study here,” said Sonia, the village sarpanch.

The sarpanch added that all they want now is a proper functional library in the area. “We have asked the MLA of this area to help us make a library where students can study free of cost. Looking at the passion of the residents of this village to study, we need to be given extra grants.”

Sanjay added that that success stories coming out of Dangar Khera village have been contagious, with people from nearby villages these days coming here to study. “They perhaps belive that there is something in Dangar Khera’s air. They believe we have something special and if they study here, they too can succeed,” he states with a smile on his face.

Dangar Khera has one government primary school with a strength of 400 students, and a senior secondary school that caters to 1200 students. There are no private schools in or around the village.

“As of now we content with being teachers, doctors, SDOs or holding other government jobs. Our next aim will be to start training students to take up UPSC preparations. I want to see our village giving an IAS or a PCS officer to the administration,” Kuljit added.