Padma Shri: Meet Uncle Moosa Who Quit His Government Job To Provide Affordable Education To Children In Arunachal Pradesh

Satyanarayan Mundayoor or Uncle Moosa 每 how children call him 每 has spent more than 32 years in the North East India helming the affordable education to all and reading movements.

In 1979, Kerala-born Uncle Moosa quit his secure government job in the income tax department in Mumbai to foray into a life that＊s not just about money. He was keen to build up reading habits among children. He would carry books in trunks using tattered state transport buses to reach the remote areas where tribal families live.

In 2007, in collaboration with the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC) and the Vivekananda Trust, a gift of children＊s＊ books and magazines became the first library as part of the Lohit Youth Library Movement in the government town of Tezu.

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That was the first step.

So far, Uncle Moosa has established 13 bamboosa libraries in remote areas like Wakro, Chongkham, Lathaw and Anjaw. These libraries are vast and boast of more than 10,000 books raging from the works of Roald Dahl and Ruskin Bond to Amar Chitra Katha. These libraries turn into a hub of activities that include story-telling, quizzes, booking readings, and enactments.

He started a home library movement entrusting books to volunteers who in turn distribute books to children.

Uncle Moosa has also written a children＊s book in Malayalam on folk heritage of Arunachal Pradesh.

Uncle Moosa＊s extraordinary efforts in reforming education in the northeast were recognised by the government and he has now been conferred with a Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian honour.