GRP constable runs free school to educate underprivileged children in UP’s Unnao
UTTAR PRADESH: Rohit Kumar Yadav, a Government Railway Police (GRP) constable posted in Unnao, always wanted to fulfil his father’s dream of providing free education to the underprivileged children.
Yadav’s father, a retired IAF personnel, had started a school at their village in UP’s Etawah district years ago but had to shut it down after facing opposition from some of his family members.
In September 2019, during a duty trip from Unnao to Rae Bareli section, the GRP personnel realised what the purpose of his life was. When he came back home from that trip, the image of a few kids begging in the train continued to haunt him. He said, “The hands which should have wielded pen and paintbrushes were holding begging bowls,”. Unlike most others, Yadav didn’t just keep brooding over the fate of these children. He reached out to them and their parents to convince them that education was the only magic wand to take them out of the darkness.
“I kept visiting these families of gypsies, who used to inhabit the railway land near tracks, and slum dwellers for a month every day to convince them for sending their children to school but most of them were reluctant,” says Yadav, who joined the force in 2005.
He added that sending their children to school would have resulted in the loss of earning hands in those families. Besides, most of them were not ready to go through the school admission drill. Realising this problem, Yadav proposed the brilliant idea of bringing the school to them. Finally, early this year, an open-air school — ‘Har Haath Mein Kalam’, i.e., a pen in every hand came into existence near the railway track of Unnao station. The first batch saw only five students, and within a month, the number jumped up to 15. For the first couple of months, Yadav was the only teacher at the school. He would devote time to it after his duty hours. Despite being heavy on his pocket, he kept bearing the initial cost of his students’ books and other expenses. As the word about his efforts spread, some NGOs came forward to help him and the school got a roof at a nearby rented accommodation.
The school now has two more teachers who take care of more 90 students. “My passion to run the school outdid the fatigue and stress I used to have after hours of duty on trains. The passion became the mission of my life as it gave me the feeling that I am living the dream of my father,” says Yadav.
GRP constable runs free school to educate underprivileged children in UP’s Unnao
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