"Neki ki deewar" - Encouraging Good Samaritan behaviour in Delhi government schools

In these challenging economic times and especially during the harsh winters, the “Neki ki dewaar” (translated as Wall of Kindness) has come as a savior to many people. The “walls”, dotted across the cities, with hooks attached to them are places where people drop off or hang their used clothes, shoes, bags, books, food items for the needy to collect for free. The initiative has been running successfully across many cities in India such as Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, and Raipur.

The Education Department in Delhi has decided to pilot this initiative within 300 government schools to encourage ‘Good Samaritan’ behavior amongst the children. The outer boundary wall of these schools will be marked with a large red poster saying ‘Neki Ki Deewar’ and will have large hooks attached to them. Those in need may freely pick them up from the wall at any time. Only the schools with their outer boundary facing the roadside have been selected for easy access without it disturbing the school operations.

Schools and parents have been specifically instructed to promote this as an anonymous giving and receiving act to protect the dignity of the receiver. The schools have been allowed to use their SMC funds for building the wall with a maximum expenditure limit of ₹10,000.

According to an education department official speaking to the Indian Express, “The initiative is basically to encourage good samaritans to donate anything that they have in excess to those who might need it. We chose school walls as a school is usually the most prominent building in the neighborhood and is accessible to everyone. Schools have also served many functions – as food distribution centres, vaccination centres, shelter homes – which is also why we think they are the ideal place.”

While some schools were running such initiatives independently and on a small scale, its formalization by the Education department of Delhi has been welcomed by the schools and teachers. “As part of the happiness curriculum, we had been doing these activities with our students on a small scale. We had a gratitude wall, where students used to put up messages thanking anyone they wanted to. The gratitude wall was later shifted from the classrooms to a section of the school. Now, it is being done on a larger scale so that students understand the value of kindness and the importance of helping. We also encourage interested people to write their messages on these walls” a teacher of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Ghitorni, which is part of the project, told TOI.