Pune Vijaynagar Lions Club builds a library that 900 girls can call their own
Shrimant Bapusaheb Pawar Girls School in Bhavani Peth has served Pune’s families for 65 years. Its students have sat for examinations, learned music, competed in sports, and gone on to build careers. One thing they did not have until recently was a proper library.
That gap was not lost on Pune Vijaynagar Lions Club, District 3234-D2, which has maintained a relationship with the school for 25 years. Two of the club’s own members — Sunil and Kavita Pawar — serve on the school’s leadership team, which meant the club heard directly about what students needed. When the conversation turned to books and the need for a dedicated library, the club decided to act under Lions International’s Reading Action Program.
The resolution was passed at a club meeting on July 23, 2025, and fundraising began the same evening. Arun Gandhi donated ₹3,50,000 in memory of his late wife, Vrushali Arun Gandhi. Sunil Pawar and Kavita Pawar contributed ₹2,00,000 in memory of the former’s late mother, Smt. Shobha S. Pawar. By the end of that single meeting, ₹5,50,000 had been pledged. Additional contributions from Harish Chopda, Madhavi Chopda, Nitin Talathi, and Sharmila Talathi covered fittings, tiles, and electrical work. By the time the project was completed, the club had invested approximately ₹7.5 lakh in creating the library.
Construction began on September 30, 2025, with Shekhar Sheth overseeing progress throughout. The finished library — a 750 square-foot reading space, stocked with 1,200 books, with 200 more to be added each year — was inaugurated on April 15, 2026, by PDG Raj Muchhal MJF, and handed over to the school the same day. Present on the occasion were District Governor Rajesh Agarwal, Vice District Governor Rajendra Goyal, PDG Arun Sheth, Club President Rajashri Sheth, and other Lions leaders.
Nine hundred girls now have a library of their own. That is, simply, what the Gyan Vignyan project accomplished.