Free Education  

At 11, Dev Pratap ran away from his home after stealing Rs 120. He collected trash from roads and railway stations to earn a living. One day, the police arrested him for consuming drugs and he remained in police custody for 15 days. A stranger secured bail for Dev and found him work at a roadside eatery. This event had a profound impact on Dev Pratap’s life that led him to form an organization called ‘Voice of Slum.’

Dev Kumar Verma’s childhood was full of struggles and hardships. He gave tuition classes and worked as an LIC agent to support his higher studies. When he secured a government job, he decided to make a difference in the lives of children who were involved in coal picking, particularly in Dhanbad. Dev established his first Ekal School in Dhanbad and started giving free education. Currently, there are more than 50 Ekal Schools operating in various states.

Dattu Agarwal grew up in a life of poverty. At the tender age of 3, he became a victim of blindness. Despite all the challenges, Dattu Agarwal studied till post-graduation and then became a lecturer of Political Science. In memory of his mother, he established a residential school for blind girls where he provides free education. 
 

Amitabh Soni worked in a London-based company after earning a degree in International Business for several years. He could not derive satisfaction from his work and wished to return to India. He finally quit his job in 2014 and came back to India to work on his dream mission. Today, he provides free education to the tribal children of Kekadiya village in Bhopal.

Mehboob Malik is popular as ‘Hero Chai Wala’ in his locality. Due to financial constraints, he could not complete his studies. Today, he runs an NGO where he provides poor children with free education and spends 80 percent of his income from the tea shop on the school expenses.

Due to poor financial conditions of the household, Rajesh Kumar Sharma had to drop out of college. He juggled between odd jobs in Delhi before finally deciding to open a free school for poor children. Today, more than 300 students attend his school.

Dattu Aggarwal grew up in a life of poverty. At the tender age of 5, he became a victim of blindness. Despite all the challenges, Dattu Aggarwal studied till post-graduation and then became a lecturer of Political Science. In memory of his mother, he established a residential school for blind girls where he provides free education.

Bathinda’s Kewal Krishna operates six learning centres in the city to educate children who beg on streets. His lessons for two hours a day help these children build dreams to better their lives. Kewal manages all the expenses from their school uniforms to educational resources.

The fees for receiving education have become incredibly high in schools. In Neerja’s charity school, students deposit plastic bottles as their fees. Neerja provides them with good-quality education, and the other resources they might need.

Praveen Rajbhar resigned from his job with a simple purpose to educate village’s children and provide them with better opportunities. His application ‘Skilling You’ has helped over one lakh students so far.

Constable Mohammad Jafar finds time after his police duties to teach poor children of his village. Despite his low income, he manages to provide these kids with educational resources and wishes to provide them with a bright future.

Amit Nirajan has passion for studies has led him to qualify UGC NET exam seven times in seven different subjects. He holds eight Masters degrees and is continuing with his research for the second time with NET JRF.

 

The society becomes better when there are people like Loganathan. He works as a welder. With an intention to provide poor children with better opportunities in all areas, he works a part time job, and gives the collected money to the district collector to help government orphanages.

Ratnesh Tiwari, an engineer, left his high-paying job to improve the lives of children who have been deprived of their basic right to education. He teaches children living in slums and guides them to adopt education as a tool to improve the economic conditions of their families.

The state director of Women and Children Welfare lauded the initiative and appealed to other institutions in the state to come forward and help the children.