Lalbaugcha Raja, one of Mumbai’s most popular Ganesha idols, has always been known for attracting devotees in large numbers every year, but it is now attracting students in droves through its educational trust, the Lalbaugcha Raja Prabodhini.

A few years ago, the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshtosav Mandal set up a special Lalbaugcha Raja Prabodhini to undertake educational activities. The trust now runs a library in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation building in Peru Compound, Lalbaug. The library consists of a reading hall and also has a book lending facility.

The Ganesh Mandal has been undertaking various forms of social work for many years now, including offering people monetary aid and helping earthquake victims of Latur.

The library, better known as the Swatantryaveer Savarkar Library & Reference Book Bank, has over 40,000 members and 60,000 books. “The prices of the books required for habitual readers and for those in higher studies are so expensive that many cannot afford these books. Due to this, many students give up studies and many book-lovers are deprived of reading,” says Satish Khankar, president of the mandal.

Apart from thousands of fiction titles in English and Hindi, the library offers books related to Union Pubic Service Commission and Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), banking, computer and various entrance exams. The library is not only modern in looks, but is also computerised. For example, every book is bar-coded and so is the identity card issued to the students. This helps to maintain a record of not only the book, but also of the person who uses the book. “To enroll for this service, the applicant just has to just submit copies of his ration card,” adds Sudhir Salvi, secretary of the mandal

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