Padan
From www.lokniketan.org
The last village on the western border of Banaskantha, situated on the brink of the Kutch desert is Padan. on the opposite side of the desert lies Pakistan. Standing on the high embankment of the pond near the village, one can see the Pakistani lights at night. This area of the Wav taluka is an area of perennial scarcity. Rainfall is extremely scanty and irregular. Drought is a recurring phenomenon every second or third year. How sturdy and enduring the people there must be! During one such drought, we had started a cattle camp at padan in order to save the animals. We supplied grass to the people and they took care of their animals. When there was first rain, we finished our drought relief work. At the time some leaders of the village-Rabari Sava Bhagat, Jethgar Maharaj, Gangabhai Patel, Harising Darbar, Shankarbhai Thakor etc. came to me and said, "Haribhai in this area there was not even a primary school before some years, but after independence, there is a primary school in every village. But where should we send our children for further education? Kindly start one secondary school here so that our children get further education. We will give Land for the school." | 
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When we started the Virampur Vidhyalaya, we were aware that, this western dry region is equally backward and poor as that tribal area. So it was felt desirable to have such a one vidhyalaya in this area to light a lamp of knowledge there. Padan was situated on the brink of the desert. Land was saline. Whirlwind cyclones were a frequent occurrence there bringing the desert sand spreading on this farm land and rendering it more unproductive. Even enough drinking water was not available there. There was a large pond near the village. The people used water from the pond. There was a well inside the pond which supplied from Deesa by means of a pipeline.
There is a very old Shiv temple on the bank of the pond. It is believed that it was built by a king of Patan Shri Mularaj Solanki, and hence, it is known as Muleshvar Mahadev. Just beside this temple the government had built a police station for the State Reserve Police. Later on this police station having been shifted elsewhere, the station building being weather-beaten was out of use. The people had taken away the doors and the windows. Such was the condition of the village. The conservative mentality cannot be changed with out education. And unless that conservatism is gone, poverty, ignorance, superstitions, blind faith can’t go. Education is a divine act to build new people. And so, we established a Vinay Mandir at Padan on 1-6-1980 in the weather-beaten building of the police chowky. Std. VIII and a Chhatralaya were started.
Before this vidyalaya was started, there was no secondary school between Wav and Suigam, a distance of 30 Kms. The tearchers in the primary schools of this dry backward area were very irregular resulting in very low attendance in the schools. The students coming to our school from such schools having passed Std. VII did not know even to read or write well, nor did they know addition or subtraction in arithmetic. Our teachers had to teach such students and prepare them for the S.S.C. Examination by completing the prescribed syllabus in all the subjucts. It was very difficult and strenuous task, but our teachers have passed that test successfully. The result of the first S.S.C. class of the school in the S.S.C. Examination was 72.6% which reched 82.8% in the year 2000. This is obviously indicative of the teachers' devoted work.
A chhatralaya recognised by the Social Welfare Department for the Baxi Commition listed backward castes is attached to the Vidhyalaya. This is a good facility for the students of far-off villages.
On account of typical socio-economic condition and geography, there has been no considerable increase in the number of students in the school. This is one and only Vidhyalaya of ours in which, even after two decades, there is not a single girl student.
And yet, this vidhyalaya is not simply a school, but a center of service activities. When it was started, there was no facility of the pakka road, provision of education further from Std. VII, medical service, all of which are now avilable of the people's lives, and partakes in their happiness and miseries.
