Jharkhand rickshaw puller crusades for literacy

Pipratand village(Jharkhand), Mar 11 : Ratan Hembram, a rickshaw puller from Pipratandillage in Jharkhand is a man with a mission.

Keen to spread literacy among fellow villagers, Hembram chose to be a part time teacher.

38-year-old Ratan pulls rickshaw during the day and becomes a teacher after the dusk.

Ratan wishes to educate the people in his village especially children to give them better future.

"I pull a rickshaw for my living and spend around two-three hours inhe evening teaching these children. Whatever little I know, I want to imparthat to them so that they can have a better future for themselves and do welln life." said Ratan Hembram.

More and more people are coming forward from his village where illiteracy was rampant.

The villagers appreciate his efforts.

"Earlier there was nothing but illiteracy in our village. Now with his efforts, people have become interested in education," said Amit.

The region in and around the village has been the hub of Maoists. Authorities feel that the education campaign spearheaded by Ratan would help create awareness among the people and Maoists would no longer be able to lure them to join their groups.

"I think his primary purpose is being fulfilled by educating the people in this Maoist infested area. It is imperative that people of this region should be educated. We want the people in the region to be educated so that they can think for themselves. So far we have not faced any trouble," said Gyanranjan Sinha, Secretary, District Literacy Mission.

Ratan's efforts have won him recognition from the sate authorities. He was recently awarded of rupees 10, 000 by the provincial government along with an offer the post of a teacher in a state-run establishment.

Till now 30 people have been educated by Ratan and more are joining his classes.

ANI