Cop's crusade to illuminate minds

A 38-year-old police sub-inspector, Ajay Bahadur Singh, is on a mission; in the Maoist-affected villages in Bihar's Gaya district, the unyielding cop is bent on bringing education to children in the remote villages of the backward district.

- Ramashankar

Currently posted as Station House Officer of Chhakarbandha police station, Singh stands like a beacon, ushering tribal children towards a promising future through free education.

Singh, who holds a postgraduate degree in English from the Banaras Hindu University, started the initiative after being posted to Chhakarbandha on February 8, 2024. Since then, he has been personally teaching children from tribal communities like Bhuiya and Bhokta—considered among the most backward groups.

Every day, children gather at the police station premises to attend classes before going home. The area, around 120 km from the Gaya district headquarters, has seen a remarkable transformation, with the number of students rising from just a handful to 625 within a year. The police station now resembles a school every morning, filled with students of all age groups eager to learn.

Singh got the idea after noticing that children used to throw stones at police teams during patrolling and operations. "Children would hide indoors on seeing the police. Their fearful and hostile behaviour made me think deeply," Singh recalled.