Cop-turned-teacher gives wings to rag pickers' dreams

Moved by the poorly dressed and unhealthy looking children who worked as rag pickers or begged for a living, Praveen Kumar, a policeman, decided to educate these kids and make them self-reliant.

Bihar, Nov 15: Moved by the poorly dressed and unhealthy looking children who worked as rag pickers or begged for a living, Praveen Kumar, a policeman, decided to educate these kids and make them self-reliant.

Praveen Kumar turns into a 'teacher' for children working as rag pickers in Gaya, Bihar. Praveen Kumar says,'' I have been directed to teach the children. The DSP and the Inspector also do the same at times for these kids.''

Many children begin working as rag pickers at the young age of five or six years. In a study, it was revealed that in Patna and Raipur about 26-20% of total rag pickers in the city are children between the age of 5-14 years, while 40% of the total dump site waste pickers were children. These are children who do not have access to education and are subjected to intense health threats.

Suman, a ragpicker, who is being taught by the policeman says,''We are rag pickers, but now we are studying here. I wish to get into the police service some day''.

In fact, its just not Praveen Kumar, there are many people who have taken up the mission to find underage workers in their neighbourhood and bring them back to school.