From scraps to school: Chirmiri ragpicker gets admitted to school on collector’s initiative

Raipur: An eight year old boy Prince who was working as a rag picker will now study in school and build a brighter future for himself. On Monday, he got admitted to government schools on the special initiative of district collector P.S. Dhruv.

Prince is the son of Raja Panika who has been living in Chirmiri for the last four years. He has got a school uniform, book, notebook and bag and is excited to go to school. The officials of Municipal Corporation Chirmiri accompanied the boy and got him admitted in the school. Monitoring will also be done from time to time to ensure that he is going to school regularly.

Meanwhile, the district collector has started the ‘Bal-Jatan Abhiyan’ to help underprivileged children especially nomads, rag pickers and orphans to have a better future by making arrangements for their education. In the first phase, this campaign will be conducted in all the urban areas of the district. Urban administration and education department officials will jointly identify such kids and enroll them in schools. In addition, these children will be provided other facilities including reading material through government schemes and non-governmental organizations.

Dhruv paid a surprise visit to Chirmiri Nagar on Saturday at 6 in the morning and took stock of the arrangements for cleanliness by walking through various chowks and wards. During this, he saw an eight year old boy Prince collecting garbage near Podi Bazar. The collector went near him and inquired about his name, address and education. Advising him to stop ragpicking work, the collector encouraged the young boy to go to school and study.

Meanwhile, at first Prince told the collector that he studies in Class 2 but later it was found out that he does not go to school at all. The Collector instructed the Municipal Corporation Commissioner to provide him with all necessary stuff including school uniform and books and get him admitted to government school in Podi Bazar.

The collector said that assistance of voluntary and social organizations will also be taken for the successful implementation of ‘Bal-Jatan Abhiyan’ in the district.