Coaching centre for slum children gets new building, health facilities

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, April 27

Romesh Mahajan, Secretary of the Gurdaspur District Child Welfare Council, was running a philanthropic initiative in the form of teaching children of beggars in a ramshackle tent for the last six years at Ram Nagar. However, with more and more parents wanting to ensure their kids get a decent educational base, Mahajan was virtually forced to construct a new building at a cost of Rs 35 lakh where he can impart the basics of school education to these children of the less privileged.

The new building was inaugurated today at Mann Kaur village by Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal. ADC (General) Dr Nidhi Kumud Bambah, too, was present. The location is ideal as it is on the outskirts of the city and is surrounded by slums. It is these slum dwellers which send their wards to taste the fruits of education.

Minutes after inaugurating the venture, DC Aggarwal said, “Every educated person may not be rich but almost every educated person has a way out of poverty. Hence, in my opinion, education is a fundamental solution to poverty. Quality education grants us the ability to fight a war on ignorance and poverty.”

Right now, 50 odd students arrive at 11 am and continue their studies till 5 pm.

The new structure comprises four rooms, a hall and a kitchen. Ashu Attri and Manjit Kaur are the two teachers who slug it out till evening just to make certain that for these children there is no wealth like education and no poverty like ignorance.

Mahajan says the ‘old tented school’ was getting smaller and smaller with every passing day as more and more parents started opting for education for their wards. “Hence, I had to construct a new building. Once the youngsters acquire proficiency in basic education like reading, writing and recitation, we shift them to nearby government schools. The project is run on a no-profit basis. A majority of the kids are anaemic when they arrive. Hence, we have roped in doctors of the Civil Hospital to deal with this disease. I started this venture secure in the knowledge that literacy is a bridge between hope and misery. The rich have the resources to teach their kids, but who will teach the kids of beggars and rag-pickers? Somebody had to take the initiative,” he said.