Jk Sinha- From Madman To Padma Shri

Before going through anything let us first go through what Jyoti Kumar Sinha did that he was given a Padma shri award for his work.

Soshan Samadhan Kendra, yes this is what he did.

A fully funded residential school in Patna. There is nothing big in operating a free english medium school, but it becomes big when you take upon yourself a responsibility to educate a community that has been exploited and lived in subhuman conditions for thousands of years.

Mr sinha’s school is a project as he says. Project to give a small payback to the society. What he did not think before starting was that how his project will become nothing less than any angel for the MUSAHAR community he works.

JK Sinha is a Bihar-cadre IPS officer of the 1967 batch who retired as the special secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in 2005. After retirement he could have gone for what majority of us would have gone for, pursuing a hobby, travelling, or playing with grandchildrens. But what this man chose was to change the life of a community which has literacy rate of 9.8 percent - lowest amongst the dalits in India.

Mr sinha says that back in 1968 was his first encounter with the MUSAHAR community, he thought of it as “shame for the country that it’s people are living in such condition. He made up his mind then to do something for them. And after retirement he came back to patna rented a building and started his pursuit.

Soon after retirement, he sold his flat in Delhi and returned to Patna as he wanted to “make some solid, meaningful contribution” to society. Sinha laid the foundation of Shoshit Samadhan Kendra, an English medium school in Danapur (a satellite town near Patna, Bihar) in 2005. As govt denied his financial appeal, he started the school with his savings and seeded money of his family. There were 4 students in the first batch of the school. The initiative soon found help from institutional and corporate funders in India and abroad.The school started in a rented building, in 2007 with financial help from Delhi-based NGO Samadhan sponsored it’s second batch of 16 boys. Later, balanced funds were raised with the help of friends, well-wishers and corporates which transformed the infrastructure in a two-acre plot with a net worth of 20 crores and improved quality of education.

Sinha recalls that when he started visiting Musahar hamlets around Patna to persuade the impoverished families to send their children to his free school, he was ignored and his friends laughed at him. There was a time when no one in his family supported him. People around him made fun of his work. He says that behind his back people started telling that age has taken upon me and I have turned senile. When he looks back, the best thing he regards is his not giving up when everybody around him neglected him and nothing seemed to work out. Even the parents of Musahar community didn’t want to send their children. They were skeptical that why someone will provide free education and fooding, lodging to them. Inspite of all obstacles Sinha and his team was able to persuade 4 families to send their children for first batch. The school started and there has been no looking back. Shoshit Samadhan Kendra has nearly 800 students now. As 40-45 students get enrolled every year, Sinha is hopeful to touch the mark of strength up to 1000 by 2020.

While speaking about the working model of school, Sinha said, “We select students from Musahar community from different parts of the state, maximum two students are chosen from a village so that they act as Agents of Change in a wide area by spreading awareness about the social and economic empowerment that education brings in the different corners of the villages.”

By giving Padma shri to people like JK Sinha, the government has not only motivated him to put more efforts but also bring to notice the efforts of people who are catalyst of change in the society.

“I am happy that my work has been recognised. This honour reminds me of the huge work of improving the education system for the needy that lies before us,” said Sinha when his name was announced on the 70th Republic day of the country.

This topic is to bring notice to the work of some unheard heroes of our time. It is our responsibility that we should know about these people and support them by making others aware of their work, because people like these are beacon of hope for the society.