Living With Polio, He Became Entrepreneur at 16 & Now Takes Education to Small Cities

With 1,100 franchises of Bachpan Play School set up in remote parts of the country, Ajay Gupta’s venture may be the solution to making education accessible in India.

By Krystelle Dsouza

September 7, 2022

Ajay Gupta was diagnosed with polio when he was only nine months old. However, being disabled himself, he spent his life working for the cause and starting ventures for the betterment of others.

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Gupta used his knowledge of shares and had an entrepreneurial spirit very early on in life. This led him to a string of successful ventures by the time he was just 24. But there was one thing that propelled him to focus on pre-primary education, among other causes.

Ajay Gupta with students, Picture credits: Instagram: Ajay Gupta

Having his legs and left hand paralysed when he was still an infant, Gupta couldn’t attend school until the age of six. This was due to a lack of accessibility in the education space. Throughout his studying years, he noticed this issue was prevalent in India.

Thus, when he had the chance to make a difference, he did. In 2004, he started Bachpan Play School in Delhi with only Rs 30,000.

A proper curriculum and strategy were the pillars on which the playschool rested with the aim being to provide quality education to young minds in Tier II and Tier III cities of India. As the venture gained traction, it was loved by many and spread from Delhi to Bareilly, Muzaffarpur, Dehradun and more such cities that total up to 1,100 franchises in India.

Today, there are almost 1 lakh students who benefit from this venture.

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Along with this venture, Gupta also set up an NGO – ‘Hum Honge Kamyaab’, for equal accessibility for disabled students in the education space.

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