Jyoti Kumar Sinha is a Padma Shri awardee and an ex raw officer. JK Sinha was born and brought up in one of the oldest inhabited places in the world. He had his schooling completed from St. Xavier’s School in Patna. He went to St. Stephens College of Delhi University to pursue his graduation in History(Hons). He further completed his post-graduation from Delhi University. He has established a CBSE-affiliated residential school in Bihar and is providing free quality education to children.
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WHAT IS MUSAHAR COMMUNITY?
Nobody is too old to set a new goal and dream for it. This is what a seventy-four-year-old Padma Shri award winner did. She started to lift one of the most deprived sections of society. She started educating Musahar children in Bihar. Musahar is a tribunal turned Dalit community raising from the eastern part of Bihar. Their main occupation is catching rats. Though the administration of development and change called for some changes in this community, which is for their betterment, still, the conditions remained the same.
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According to the 2011 census, approximately 27 lakh Musahars reside in India. Out of which only 3 percent of Musahars are educated. JK Sinha wanted to transform this rate for the betterment of society. That is why in 2005, he established a non-profit organization named Shoshit Seva Sangh with the main motive to educate Musahar children for free. Today, he is successfully running a CBSE affiliated school of more than 500 boys and girls on Shivalaya road in Patna. It is improving the confidence level of children and is equipping them with tools that they need for a better livelihood. Education plays a very important role in everyone’s life. It is really important to get educated for our own uplifted. Sinha took this step after understanding the importance of education for individuals. He decided to make learning and education attainable to those individuals who are always excluded from the masses.
SINHA WAS THE SPECIAL SECRETARY OF RAW
JK Sinha said that the Musahar community was landless and lived under a thrashed roof. They are not only considered as an ostracized society but also faced violence and exploitation. He said that as soon as He realized this, he felt a personal guilt. That is why he started working for their welfare after retiring from service. After 1967, he followed the footsteps of his father and grandfather and joined the Indian Police Service. He was the director-general of the Central Reserve Police Service Force. Sinha went to capture a gang of criminals and that was the first time he came in contact with the Musahirs. He was so shocked after seeing their poverty that he even experienced staying with them. Thereupon, he got appointed to the cabinet secretariat and was finally selected as the special secretary of Research and Analysis Wing(RAW). He served the government for 34 years and retired in 2005. Still, the condition of the Musahirs was not improved according to him. United Nations just laid down to the fact that ensuring and improving quality education is not the only motive of each and every country. But it is to focus on extreme poverty.
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MANY PEOPLE DID NOT SUPPORT HIM AT FIRST
At that time, Sinha started to provide education to the Musahirs. He wanted Musahirs to use this powerful tool of knowledge and wanted them to improve their livelihood and be independent. As soon as he was retired from his service, he began to establish Shoshit Seva Sangh, a non-government organization in Patna. With the help of his family and friends, he pooled in some funds to start an English medium school for the Musahars. Many people did not support the idea at first. Later, many NGOs ‘ corporate bodies and well well-wishers donated for the construction of the school. The entire building up of school which includes classroom, sports complex, library, washroom, and many other places cost 40 crores. He offers the best facilities and opportunities for all the Musahar children. As their parents did not go to school all their lives, a lot of resistance was faced by him in order to get the children to school. Sinha started the school with four students and now there are around 500 children obtaining education from the institute. 40 plus staff members are teaching in the school.
STUDENTS ACHIEVED MUCH IN THEIR LIVES
The school offers education till class 12 and includes all the streams that are humanities, science, and commerce. JK Sinha said that many students who are passed out from the school are already achieving much in their lives. Those students who are currently studying go to their homes and talk to their parents about various aspects like health, hygiene, pollution, child marriage, and many more things. According to him, this change will lead them towards economic empowerment. Now, Sinha is planning to establish a degree college called Ekalavya Academy for Musahar Children. Sinha has attained the honorable Padma Shri Award for his tireless efforts and noble service in the field of affordable education in 2019.
