A group of IIT Kharagpur students and teachers has joined hands and raised Rs 25 lakh to provide accommodation to children from underprivileged families so they don’t drop out from a school run by the IIT students.
The Gopali Youth Welfare Society, an organisation managed by IIT students and teachers, runs Jagriti Vidya Mandir in a village about 7.5km from the campus.
The hostel that was inaugurated on Sunday, will accommodate 60 students of the English-medium primary school started in 2008.
Thoravi Pise, a student of chemical engineering at IIT Kharagpur said, they found out through a survey that many of these children cannot focus on their education owing to non-conducive environments at home and lack mentors to guide them on their journey to become independent and drop out of school.
“Our step comes as a relief for such students who can now continue learning while living at the hostel,” she told The Telegraph.
The hostel has been split internally through barricades to create separate sections for boys and girls.
Another student, who is a member of the society, said parents of these students who earn a living doing odd jobs, shifted to another part of the Paschim Medinipur district or adjoining districts following loss of jobs because of the pandemic and the child had to move with their parents.
“This meant the child had to end his or her association with the school. Now these kids have a choice to stay at the hostel and attend the school,” he said.
The students and teachers will foot the cost, Rs 2 lakh per month, to sustain the hostel.
Jagriti Vidya Mandir was started on the premises of the Indranarayan Memorial High School in the Gopali panchayat area. Later, the school shifted to Salua about 7.5km from the IIT Kharagpur.
The IIT students come on bicycles to the school early in the morning to monitor its functioning and take classes.
During the pandemic when the school remained shut for over two years, the students gave smartphones to the kids so the classes could be run over digital platforms.
“The cost of the data pack was also borne by the students and teachers. The school has been reopened now,” said Ayushi Sharma, a third-year student of computer science and engineering.
According to her, hygienic meals, playground facilities, male and female wardens looking out for the child’s needs along with students of IIT as mentors would ensure a happy stay and a safe learning environment for these children.
The foundation for the hostel was laid in 2020.
The society in November 2019 had engaged postgraduate students of the agricultural and food engineering department to arm farmers with the technique in a village about three kilometres from the IIT Kharagpur campus.
In May 2020, students of IIT Kharagpur had saved their pocket money and the fund was transferred through a digital wallet to officials of the society to take food and ration to villagers around the campus, many of them jobless during the lockdown.
