Cop classes for village youths

Munger: Battalion 16 of Sashastra Seema Bal, under the community policing programme, has begun a four-month crash course to groom 80 boys and girls of dozens of Naxalite-affected remote villages in Jamui district for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and other competitive exams at Charka Pathar village.

All 80 students, mostly graduates and undergraduates in different streams drawn from Aasrakhu, Khijra, Mariam Pahari, Tapaki, Joseph Jora and Thamman Genda villages under the jurisdiction of Sono police station in Jamui district, around 197km from Patna, attend the three-hour-long competitive daily classes.

“Students, who attend the competitive classes, are very poor but talented and have high ambitions for top government posts in their lives,” said Santosh Kumar, the assistant commandant of the SSB’s Battalion 16, which commandant Dinesh Paul Singh heads.

“Through the grooming classes, we want to show that talented boys and girls belonging to Scheduled Tribes and weaker sections may get good government jobs through competitive examinations. So, we have been teaching them at the SSB centre at Charka Pathar village since May 26. Every morning, we hold classes from 7am to 10am at the centre,” added Santosh. “We show poor students motivational videos in which the son of a vegetable vendor and that of a rickshaw-puller have become IAS officers through hard labour.”

Inspector-general (IG) of police (Bhagalpur range) Sushil Man Singh Khopre told The Telegraph: “This teaching centre for talented students of poor families is working well. We aim at good co-ordination between the police and the people so that we can reduce crime and criminal activities in Naxalite-affected remote villages.”

The IG also visited this centre along with Jamui superintendent of police (SP) J.J. Reddy on June 28 and lauded the joint efforts of SSB Battalion 16 and Jamui police in this mission.

“We want to win the villagers’ hearts. Naxalites may see those social changes and join the mainstream by dissociating themselves from criminal activities,” said the IG.

“I am glad to get the opportunity of receiving such standard of education in the competitive classes,” said Sunil Hembram from Aasrakhu village.

“My parents failed to provide me such an opportunity. But the SSB unit has been grooming all of us for competitive examinations, thanks to them and Jamui police,” said Muskan Bernwal from Charka Pathar village.

Courtesy: The Telegraph