On 15th August 2020, social welfare organisation Durgapur Adda Young Association inaugurates “Jiban Path Kendra” (Life learning Centre) at ‘Washing Plot’ locality of Kamalpur area adjacent to Durgapur Steel Township. This “Jiban Path Kendra” is for the 5-12 year boys and girls of the locality, whose parent are working at the nearby Stone Quarries. Most of the children of the locality have hardly ever gone to school and even those who have been to school barely know to write their name.
Inaugurating the Jiban Path Kendra, eminent orthopedic surgeon of Durgapur, Hon’ble Dr. Dipankar Sen, wrote on one of the black boards of the center, “Freedom to enter the world of light” and on the other black board, the former principal of Michael Madhusudan College, Hon’ble Shri Basudeb Hazra wrote, “Let a thousand flowers bloom”.
Though the name of Kamalpur is known to many, but only very few have heard the name of ‘Washing Plot’. The locality houses 70-80 families working in the nearby Stone Quarries. Members of these families are not even literate and are hardly aware of the need of education. Majority of the families here are Hindi speaking and so the child of these families going in government free primary schools mostly can’t understand anything because the medium of instruction there is Bengali and hence adds to the School Dropout list. Also, as both mother and father works in the Stone Quarries, the child is left at home to do household works and are not encouraged to go to school.
Here, it must be mentioned that, one must not try to draw similarity between a formal school and this “Jiban Path Kendra” (Life learning Centre). Children in his “Jiban Path Kendra” will be given basic education to make their life a bit easier by being able to identify good and bad and not be vulnerable to cheating and oppression.
There was a 30ft by 20ft dilapidated old structure here (which the people living here are all seeing since their birth) with completely damaged floor and roof, even the four walls was not in good shape. This structure, which has been lying unused for more than 20 years, has been repaired and renovated, with a cost of 90.000 INR and the “Jiban Path Kendra” has been set up in this house.
Initially this “Jiban Path Kendra” will run four days a week from 9:30 am to 4 pm; nutritious lunch will be given to all the students here. 52 students of the locality has been enrolled.