Pathshala at railway station pitches a future for homeless kids

ALLAHABAD: For five-year-old Puja and, her friends Seema (6), Rohit (8) and Naresh (4) their alarm clock is the horn of a train chugging along any platform they spend the night at the Allahabad Junction.
While some of them were separated from their parents, others were left behind by families to fend for themselves. The four of them spend the day loitering on the railway station, once they are done with collecting trash from the premises.

Since last week, these young rag pickers have a new agenda-attending classes conducted thrice a week as part of the 'Platform ki Pathshala' initiative by the North Central Railway (NCR) Women's Welfare Organisation (Allahabad division). Apart from Allahabad, these classes are being held at railway stations of Mirzapur, Kanpur, Tundla, Hathras and Aligrah.

These classes are conducted on platforms thrice a week-Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday-by women members of the organisation and volunteering scouts and guides.

"We saw that there are number of kids loitering at the railway station and near tracks. They are often drawn to wrong influences at an early age and we are helping them embrace better choices," said president of the organisation, Anju Amitabh. The special pathshala started March 20 onwards at Allahabad Junction and over 40 children have already enrolled for the classes.

Anju said that most of the students were either rag pickers or had been disowned by their parents or were separated from them.

"With the initiative, we are trying to give a meaning to every child's life," she added. Amitabh said that the organisation was encouraging railway employees and their families to adopt these children. "We are pooling money to create a fund to sponsor their education and well being," she said. "We have appealed to railway employees to donate to the fund on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries." The volunteers said that one of their major challenges was to keep the children motivated enough to attend the classes regularly. "We are maintaining an attendance register and log books to keep a record of activities organised for these kids," Anju said.

"During a random inspection of Allahabad Junction, we saw many poor and orphaned children strolling on the railway platform and premises. In the absence of adult supervision and a lack of education, these children are forced to live a hard life and are often drawn to the wrong path. It was then that we thought of starting such a 'pathshala' at six major stations of Allahabad division," said divisional railway manager of Allahabad division, Amitabh.

At Allahabad Junction, the pathsahala is organised at platform number one , next to VIP gate, from 3-4pm.

Anju said that the students are provided with items like writing and reading materials, chocolates and shampoo as part of the initiative.