Elmhirst engaged his students from the very beginning in labour intensive programme.such as cutting of trees, preparing drain by digging earth, constructing houses for teachers and students, constructing dairy for goats, cows etc. They were doing all such works. He taught them to love their tools. He intentionally asked students to do hard work, asked them to dig a trench and to fill it with cow-dungs and other rubbish things to prepare bio-manure. These works are usually done by socially depressed class of people.. He asked all sections of students to participate in such activities for teaching them dignity of labour.When Elmhirst began himself to do all these things, the students also came forward. He wrote in his diary on 25th Feb;
" Two red letter days because two students yesterday, and two today, including one brahmin boy, overcame all their natural and religious prejudices and of their own free will cleaned out the offending latrine buckets. What a victory it is! For them specially." There was exception too. He added;
" Of all the boys Subir Thakur alone strikes at the job of bucket emptying, a Brahmin of Brahmins. ( It was apparently his old grandmother who was urging him to resist but I think he'll do it tomorrow.)"
A few days back his grand mother Jnanadanandini Devi came to Santiniketan to get him admitted in - and probably she used to give him advice constantly.
