| |
OFFTRACK: RAIPUR, CHHATTISGARH
Action Station
The
future of urchins is on track, thanks to a visionary police officer.
By Neeraj Mishra
Most people know
how noisy, how busy a railway platform can be. Amid the cacophony, one
thing you would never expect, of course, would be the singsong chant of
children at school. Which is why the railway station at Raipur in Chhattisgarh
can be a surprise. When the platform here is not echoing to the chugging
of trains, a secluded corner reverberates to the sound of juvenile recitations.
Between five and 13 years of age, these schoolchildren don't travel far
to study, for they live on the platform itself, which incidentally is
also a clinic, bank and hostel for them.
 |
|
| FAR TO GO:Sharma
has converted part of the platform into a school for the railway children |
|
The man who has wrought this transformation wears
several hats. Ramesh Sharma, superintendent of Railway Police (SRP), doubles
as a foster father, teacher, guardian and philosopher to the railway children.
Until three years ago-when Sharma was posted to Raipur as SRP-these children
spent much of their time picking rags, pockets and sometimes suitcases
on the platform. They were abominably dirty, scoured constantly for cigarette
butts to smoke and used filthy language. But Sharma saw hope in their
unexpected zest for life. After a long chat with the youngsters, he realised
that most of them wanted to abandon their wretched existence but lacked
education and guidance to do so.
After another chat, this time with his colleagues,
he found that a woman head constable, Chamelibai Rautray, had been a teacher
before joining the force. That was all the motivation he required: with
Rautray and himself as teachers, one blackboard and nearly 25 students,
he set up a school in a relatively isolated part of the platform. The
only aspect he did not have to worry about was the formation of the parent-teacher
association-the students are orphans or runaways who don't know who their
parents are. The funds he subsequently helped raise-all officers above
the rank of ASI contribute Rs 100, pooling nearly Rs 1,300 every month-provided
uniforms and stationery for the students. School timings are not rigid
and the children-who now work in tea stalls, collect and sell plastic
containers, even pull carts-can either study at 9 a.m. or 4 p.m. "These
timings also do not interfere with my responsibilities,'' says Sharma.
He has also opened a bank account into which
every child is obliged to make a weekly deposit of Rs 20; a child earns
a minimum of Rs 120 per week, spending most of it on food which Sharma
is now trying to provide free at least once a day. The money in the fixed
deposits will be available to the children when they turn 18 and Sharma
hopes that each child will have at least Rs 10,000 to start life anew.
He has also made weekly baths and medical check-ups mandatory. "The
greatest satisfaction has been a sharp decrease in thefts reported on
the platform. Over the past few months, I have not received a single such
complaint," says Sharma. He is also negotiating with various government
departments to initiate a weaving class for the children at the station.
The school is not the only social welfare project
Sharma has undertaken. He is India's only police officer to have won the
Vriksha Mitra award presented by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
For a policeman who has chased dacoits and quelled riots, Sharma has an
unusual fascination for trees and has planted more than two lakh so far.
The affair with trees began during his posting as sp at Damoh in Madhya
Pradesh, where Sharma decided to do something about the huge but barren
police compound. He also observed frequent bickering and quarrels among
the off-duty policemen in the adjacent barracks. He inspired these men
to plant trees. Over the next two years, they helped him plant one lakh
trees in police stations and different parts of the town. The tree-planting
frenzy in Damoh saw a sudden dip in the town's temperature. And an amazed
Sharma found that the policemen too had become less irritable. Later,
while serving in Bosnia, his theories on the beneficial impact of greenery
became a subject of study for the Interpol.
Sharma has come a long way since 1979 when he
joined the state police service. So perhaps will 25 children for whom
he has tried to pave a better future.
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
