Onika Maheshwari/New Delhi
“I was the first child in my family to go to school. My father is a farmer. Due to my experience, I decided that no child must be deprived of education.” Kifayatullah Malik, recipient of the prestigious President's Award for NSS (National Social Service) in 2021-22, who is into social service in Kashmir, says.
Hailing from the small village of Bandipora, Kifayatullah is committed to bringing about a change in society through education and empowerment of the youth.
The 25-year-old Kifayatullah Malik is a social worker, youth leader, and mountaineer. Speaking with Awaz-the Voice on the phone, he says his job is to motivate children living in hilly areas to join the school. He also encourages them to join sports as part of his mission is to uplift underprivileged children.
Kifayatullah attended the Boys Middle School, Lawaypora, and later obtained his bachelor's degree in Sociology and Political Science from Amar Singh College, Srinagar. He completed his Master‘s in Social Work from the University of Kashmir.
Kifayatullah Malik told Awaz-The Voice that he was always involved in team activities. He noticed that most of his classmates dropped out of school some for financial problems or domestic compulsions.
In college, he formed a group of like-minded youth to help the dropouts return to school.
"When your intentions are clean, everyone helps you," said Kifayatullah. He expanded his mission through crowd-funding.
As Kifayatullah Malik is a mountaineer, he helped students by taking them on treks.
He collected old textbooks from his friends to give the same to those who could not buy them.
Kifayatullah Malik is also the district coordinator with REACHA (Research and Extension Association for Conservation of Horticulture and Agro-forestry) on the Smartpur project through which we are bridging the digital divide in the remote area of Kashmir.
For him, REACHA is a mission to reach out to people in every corner of the country to bring about a positive change.
Kifayatullah Malik told Awaz-The Voice that he started his community service while he was in school. His struggle and challenges helped him think of the problems of the poor and serve them.
His community service gained momentum during his college years when he started collecting old books from people who no longer needed them and distributed them to needy students.
His efforts attracted more passionate individuals to the mission.
On the personal front, Kifayatullah is the first professional mountaineer from Bandipora.
Kifayatullah Malik says, “I want to understand the problems of dropouts and find solutions to them. All the members of our team are highly energized. They believe that the youth are the future of any country and only when they change their thoughts and improve their lives the real change can come.
Kifatullah Malik told Awaz-The Voice that he also organized awareness camps with his team by visiting remote areas like Ketson, Dakhi, Dangarnar, Chinchar, etc. At these camps, he addressed women’s issues and explained to them the government schemes to help them to empower themselves. He also educated people on environmental sustainability and generated awareness of drug abuse.
Thus Kifayatullah's work has since spread to areas such as environmental protection, education, de-addiction, tourism promotion, and humanitarian aid. He received the prestigious President's Award for Social Work and Community Welfare from President Draupadi Murmu.
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Kifayatullah has also received other awards including the Best Forest Friend Award for tree planting from the Social Forestry Department of Jammu and Kashmir, the Ambassador of Humanity Award 2024, which is given to 10 individuals every year in 10 different fields across India, the award for social work in 2024, Global Human Rights Award, ADG’s Appreciation Award 2019.
