Dagger Parivar School is a care center designed for specially-abled children of Baramulla, with a current enrollment of 103 children with various medical conditions. The school was established on October 20, 2021, as a joint initiative of the Chinar Corps and the Indrani Balan Foundation, Pune. The chairman of Indrani Balan Foundation, Pune, and GOC 19 Infantry Division, along with other civil and army officers and parents of the children were present at the inauguration ceremony. During the event, the specially-abled children presented different cultural events and dance performances, which enthralled the audience.
The school was founded with the vision of empowering talented children to shape their world. The institution also provides facilities for differently-abled students to integrate with mainstream educational institutions. With the tireless effort and commitment of the staff and management, eight students from this school have successfully transferred to various government and private schools.
Janhavi Dhariwal Balan, the founder of the Indrani Balan Foundation, spoke to the media, stating that the foundation has collaborated with the Army to establish 11 schools, one of which caters to specially-abled children. According to her, these children have unique abilities and the foundation’s primary objective is to provide them with multiple opportunities.
According to Major General Rajesh Sethi of the GOC 19 Infantry Division, the Army and the Indrani Balan Foundation will collaborate to improve the school’s infrastructure, providing more opportunities for children with disabilities. One parent of a child with special needs praised the Indian army and the foundation for their work. Despite the challenges of raising special needs children, the school has given hope to parents in similar situations.
Indrani Balan Foundation’s President, Punit Balan quoted “A new generation of Kashmir is being shaped through the schools run by Indrani Balan Foundation. Kashmiri students definitely have talent and deserve a platform to showcase it. Therefore, the foundation wants to support these students who have long been impacted by terrorism. We believe that these students represent India’s future and want to help them build a more prosperous Kashmir. So, in the future, we intend to open more schools.”