It is as interesting as it gets. The race for the President’s office far-off in the US is keeping a clutch of students and teachers from a group of schools here at this sleepy town in Western Uttar Pradesh awake.
It is Hillary Clinton they are particularly interested in as they keep close tabs on her Presidential bid.
last week, as the news about Hillary clinching the Democratic nomination came, the students and teachers went into a celebratory mode. After all, the ‘Clintons’ and they have a “deep connection”.
Their schools are named after the Clintons — Bill Clinton School, Hillary Clinton Nursing School and Hillary Clinton Institute of Paramedical Sciences-all run by the Vinod Gupta Charitable Foundation (VGCF) in a sprawling well-kept 25-acre campus named Ramrati Education Complex (REC) after Gupta’s mother, whom he calls his source of inspiration.
A native of Rampur and a graduate of IIT Kharagpur, NRI Gupta is close to the Clintons. Former US President Bill Clinton had even visited the complex way back in 2001, much before it was named after him.
Now, with the former first US lady in the poll fray, students and teachers alike are supporting her candidature in their best possible ways-wearing badges ‘I support Hillary’, holding placards and drawing posters besides making speeches about how women empowerment can bring positive changes in the society.
Niharika Kapil, a Class VI student and her cousin Vakli Kapil, who studies in Class IX, feel that it is their moral duty to support Hillary as President because being a woman she will be able to understand their issues well, irrespective of different cultures.
Raj Kamal Saxena, President, REC, along with her colleagues echoed, similar sentiments and hoped that after her victory Hillary will spare time to visit their campus too.
Thrilled at Hillary’s nomination, Saxena sums up why she supports the former US secretary as President: “She has become an Icon for women empowerment by winning the nomination for presidential candidate.”
Saxena said, the VGCF has taken great efforts to ensure that the students, who are usually from the nearby villages and economically weaker sections, get the best of education and development courses like English communication, computer and vocational classes. . It’s equipped with the best of infrastructure such as labs, libraries and sports facilities.
To encourage girls to take up education, the VGCF distributes free bi-cycles to them to ease their commutation and is also waiving 50 percent of their tuition fees. Also, free meal is given twice a week to the students. Incentives are bearing fruits with girls from neighbouring areas including villages like Nandpur, Kurali, Chandera, Rampur, Azampur and Tipra joining the institutes.
Girls are coming even from faraway states like Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala to study at the Nursing College.
“We are now awaiting the green signal for the Hillary Clinton Institute of Paramedical Sciences which will open doors for youth to join courses aimed to provide them employment,” said Saxena.