A constable takes a class at the Shaktigarh camp. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Jan. 6: Constables of the Fourth Battalion of the Bengal State Armed Police are doubling as teachers in their spare time, providing free education to needy children.

The battalion, headquartered in Raiganj, has about 50 camps in North and South Dinajpurs, Malda and the Siliguri subdivision. The programme, Vidyasagar Sarva Siksha Pathshala, has so far been implemented in 19 of them, benefiting about 2,000 people, mostly children.

Classes are held between 2pm and 6pm, when the constables are generally off duty. Evening classes, too, are conducted in a few camps. Books and copies are provided free to the students.

The initiative is the brainchild of T.F. Sherpa, the commandant of the Fourth Battalion. “During a surprise visit to one of our camps, I found my boys idling away their time playing cards or sleeping. Thereafter, I motivated them into making meaningful use of their spare time by teaching needy children in our camps,” said Sherpa.

The constables also had the promise of promotion and reward to motivate them and with a good number of graduates and some post-graduates in the ranks, they took to playing mastermoshai (teacher) without much difficulty.

“It feels good to teach the kids,” said Utpal Saha, a constable at the battalion’s Shaktigarh camp in Siliguri.

The classes are held in the cramped rooms of the camps. Children sit cross-legged on the beds, while their teachers sit on stools. “I am now scoring good marks in school,” said Priya Mazumdar, a Class VI student of Shaktigarh Balika Vidyalaya who attends the classes.

Some of the children do not have access to formal education and are taught basic lessons, said Bhulu Mahato, the sector in-charge of the battalion in Siliguri.

Parents are all praise for the constables. “Thanks to them, I am able to save Rs 150 every month that would have gone to private tutors,” said Pampa Roy, a young mother who works as a housemaid.