Four years ago, these children used to wander in the Bodigadithota cremation ground here, picking up coins strewn by mourners. They didn’t know how to read or write, and their abjectly poor parents could not even dream of sending them to school. Today, five of these children have brought joy to their families by passing the 10th class examination.
These five are among the 100 destitute children rehabilitated by the Child and Police (CAP) project. When these children were enrolled in the NGO’s residential rehabilitation project, they had had zero schooling.
Teachers at the K.S. Vyas Police Welfare School took pains to groom them and hone them to the point of being able to stand the SSC test.
B.V. Ramana Kumar, DIG of Kurnool range, initiated the CAP project when he was SP of Nellore. The initiative started with around 50 children of different age groups. In the beginning, their parents were reluctant to send them to the CAP facility as they could not relate to the idea of their children going to school, living in a hostel and getting a job in future.
It was after a lot of counselling and confidence-building that the parents agreed. This was in October 2011.
Mr. Ramana Kumar and present Nellore SP Gajarao Bhupal complimented the children for proving themselves in the examination.
