Patna: Ashutosh Kumar, a Class IV student from the Maoist-hit Kudhani police station area in Kaimur district, is no longer scared of "police uncle". The reason: For the past two months, the cops have turned the police station, around 65km northwest of the district headquarters Bhabua and around 200km southwest of Patna, into a free coaching centre for children from the nearby Kudhani, Bhatt Kurwa and Karmehri villages.
Station house officer (SHO) Diwakar Prasad and constables Rakesh Kumar and J.P. Yadav teach children from nursery to class VIII, who gather on the police station premises every morning and evening. And the initiative to win the community's heart through education seems to be working.
"Now we are not afraid of police uncle. They are very helpful," said Class IV student Ashutosh.
"I have learnt a lot from the coaching classes here. The teachers are good and teach us well," said Class V student Rahul Kumar.
Other students such as Sapna Kumari (Class IV), Gudiya Kumari (Class III) and Pawan Kumar (Class II) agreed.
The makeshift classroom under the open sky has a big blackboard where teachers write the lessons.
"Now we prefer to send our wards to the free coaching centre than to the government middle school at Bhatt Kurwa. The teachers seldom come to the school as the area is hit by Maoist activities," said a local resident.
The government school is more than 2km from Kudhani.
SHO Diwakar, a geography graduate from Magadh University, Bodhgaya, told The Telegraph on Sunday that the children who attend the classes are mostly from economically backward sections of the society.
"As I had a lot of time in the mornings, I decided to teach the students free of cost on weekends. Later, the classes became daily," said Diwakar, who assumed charge as SHO of the Maoist-affected police station area in August last year. "When I am busy somewhere with work, I ask my colleagues to take the classes."
Diwakar said that he used to give tuition to students when he was studying in Class X at his native village in Nawada district. The exercise continued till graduation. "When I joined the police force, I used to miss the classes. But now I have an opportunity to discharge my duty towards society as well," he added.
Constable Yadav said the kids have potential. "We not only give tuition free of cost but also provide these poor children stationery items. We are trying to give these children a leg up to fulfil their potential," he said.
Senior IPS officer Amitabh Kumar Das lauded the Kudhani SHO's initiative.
"To win the war against Maoists, the armed solution can't be the only way," Das said. "We should always look to win the hearts and minds of people living in the remote villages affected by Maoist activities."
