Patna superintendent of rail police Jitendra Mishra played good Samaritan by providing identity cards to over 500 youths preparing for various competitive examinations under a lamp post at Sasaram railway station in Rohtas, around 170km southwest of Patna.
The I-cards will help these youths have free access to the railway station and study.
Mishra, with his subordinates Ajay Kumar, inspector of police and Om Prakash, station house officer (SHO) of Sasaram government railway police (GRP), visited the platform on Tuesday evening and distributed identity cards among the 550-odd job aspirants.
These youths assemble in groups on the railway platform every evening to study under the lamp post and prepare themselves for various competitive examinations. Senior students coach the juniors free of cost as most of them come from economically backward sections of society.
The Telegraph had highlighted the problems faced by these students on May 13, 2012. The railway officials, taking cognisance of the report, had allowed them to fetch drinking water from the taps installed at the platform.
Mishra said on Wednesday that he was impressed with the performance of the students. "The idea to provide them identity cards struck my mind when I visited Sasaram railway station after assuming charge in April last year," he said.
Mishrahad been tipped off that some criminals operating at the railway platform used to take shelter posing as students. "I interacted with the students, gave them tips on methods to prepare for examinations and asked them to be friends of the police," he added.
According to a rough estimate, around 1,200 students assemble on the railway platform every evening from far-flung areas of Maoist-infested Rohtas. "There are remote villages, which still don't have electricity. As a result, students come to the railway station and study under the lamp post," said Vicky Kumar, a resident.
Vicky, 21, is among the students who were issued I-cards by the railway authority. He said scores of students have been selected in the railways, air force and other central government organisations.
