The lady who convert the life of jail inmate’s children
A good friend, philosopher and guide, she’s the motherly determine for the youngsters of jail inmates in Odisha. Meet 42-year-old Niroja Laxmi Mohapatra, the guardian angel for these kids who look as much as her as they try to carve their very own niches in life.
Her concerted efforts via the years have yielded fruit with two of them turning into engineers and a few others pursuing greater training and technical programs.
Mohapatra is the supervisor of the Madhur Mayee Adarsha Siksha Niketan, a hostel for convicts’ kids, situated adjoining to the particular jail in Bhubaneswar.
Her distinctive hostel, which was launched with two youngsters in 2003, homes over 60 college students of various age teams right now.
“The hostel opened with two kids in November 2003 when the Odisha authorities was implementing a reform programme in prisons throughout the state. We began the hostel to assist educate and supply a greater life to the inmates’ youngsters,” stated Mohapatra.
The hostel is managed by a non-government organisation, Odisha Patita Udhar Samiti, and depends upon public funding.
She mentioned the NGO had performed a survey to determine the youngsters of jail inmates a couple of years again and introduced 23 youngsters right here.
“After deciding to arrange the hostel for such youngsters, we mentioned it with the then IG-Prisons Bidya Bhushan Mohanty and the state authorities. The state Ladies and Youngster Improvement division accepted the thought and supplied an preliminary funding to run the hostel,” stated Mohapatra.
She stated it was the primary ever hostel for the kids of prisoners in India.
The state authorities has plans to take over the hostel for higher administration and a safe lifetime of the youngsters of jail inmates, she knowledgeable.
This hostel has develop into an incubator for these youngsters who wish to make a optimistic mark in life. And Mohapatra is sparing no efforts to assist them obtain that. Step one is training. With the help of the hostel and as a consequence of Mohapatra’s earnest efforts, a number of children right here have secured admission in varied faculties and schools.
Manas Ranjan Sahoo and his pal Bighnaraj Bagh at the moment are pursuing engineering diploma from the KIIT College whereas a number of others have gotten admission in plus-three and ITIs.
“This yr, six youngsters appeared within the 10th Board examination and all of them cleared the hurdle. Sujata Sahu, who was finding out on the Capital Excessive College, secured over 80 p.c marks. I facilitated her plus-two admission in BJB Junior Faculty, one of many prestigious schools within the state,” Mohapatra knowledgeable proudly.
She had introduced Sujata from Nayagarh jail, the place her dad and mom are imprisoned on homicide prices.
Apart from curriculum actions, the youngsters are additionally studying dance and different artwork works.
Nonetheless, Mohaptra’s position just isn’t restricted to nurturing these kids alone. This lady with a golden coronary heart, who hails from Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district, has additionally arrange the state’s first faculty for the hearing-impaired in 2007.
“After I mulled the concept of establishing a university for the hearing-impaired, many suggested me to drop the plan as it could be troublesome to run a school with none monetary help by the federal government. Then I fashioned a welfare belief and based the Satyabhama Devi School,” she mentioned.
The school is imparting larger schooling within the plus-II Arts stream to such challenged college students.
Mohapatra, who accomplished her commencement in 1992, additionally efficiently pursued a diploma course to show the blind. She then accomplished her Grasp’s diploma from the Utkal College earlier than working as a instructor in a number of faculties.
