A few good clerks do what was not done unto them. They help village schoolkids learn.
Over the last decade, they have helped 430 village schools and organised scholarships for 41 needy students in Ratnagiri district. In a land where the word ‘clerk’ only recalls the obstructionist, come-back-tomorrow genre of humanoids, Pawar and buddies are a rare species. They are The Little Babus That Do.
It all began when Pawar, a head clerk at a government hospital, went to his village in Ratnagiri for a summer break 15 years ago. He came across a bright young boy who was dropping out of school because his farm-hand parents could no longer afford the luxury of educating their son. "It set me thinking about the thousands of kids in our villages who never get a chance to make it," says Pawar. His own childhood school in the village barely had any facilities but, luckily, his family moved to Mumbai. "It’s sad but the schools in our villages haven’t improved much since I was a child," he says.
In this other world, there are children who study in cowsheds sitting on a bare dung floor, who walk up to 20 km without the comfort of chappals, often crossing streams and lakes to get to class. Here, they squeeze next to each other—up to 80 in a room—with a single teacher handling five grades at one go.
Keen to do something, Pawar got together other colleagues from the region, united by their bad experiences in Ratnagiri’s schools. And the Lanja Rajapur Sangameshwar Taluka Utkarsh Mandal was born, in 1991. Among its members are clerks, typists, receptionists...Each year, they put advertisements in Ratnagiri’s newspapers, urging schoolteachers to write in with requests for materials. Consequently, they are flooded with letters asking for uniforms, books, pencils, compass boxes, chappals, umbrellas and sometimes even cupboards and chairs.
Collecting these, and after taking a few weeks off from work, a 20-strong group hires a bus and drives down to help. Reaching these remote schools is an adventure in itself. "Sometimes, we wade through streams carrying the bags of material on our head," says Vijay Chavan, a Mumbai Port Trust clerk.
They make sure the venture gets personal attention. Many an evening is taken up cutting lengths of cloth for school uniforms. Much of what they collect is donated by well-wishers, but they put in their own money to make up for the rest. Whatever is donated, it’s made sure, is of the best quality. Says Pawar, "We only supply the best stuff. If it’s a compass box, it has to be Camlin. Just because it’s a village school doesn’t mean anything goes." Over the years, they’ve even built small science laboratories for schools in this region "so that children can get a feel of the subject". They expanded their activities. They also raised sponsorships for needy students, which take care of books, fees and the all-important bus passes.
A handicapped student from Rajapur called Isbet Fernandes gave them one of their proudest moments. Isbet’s sister used to carry him on her back to their village school, a daily3-km trek. He scored high marks in his board exams but that was it, no more. College was a good 42 km away. So they organised a sponsor to take care of Isbet’s hostel expenses and fees. He went on to complete his degree in education and now teaches in a zilla parishad school.
The group also tries to bring out the middle class from its me-myself shell. Most of the sponsorships and donations come from them. You can help too. Contact: Lanja Rajapur Sangameshwar Taluka Utkarsh Mandal, 9/5 Aryanagar, Tardeo, Mumbai-400034. Tel: 24964032/24961282.