Migrant laborers in Hooghly beg BDO to stay for their children's education

In the Hooghly district, about forty migrant laborers, who work in brick kilns and jute mills and come from neighboring Bihar, Jharkhand, and a few other states, begged Balagarh block development officer Niladri Sarkar to stay rather than take a new job in Gaighata, North 24-Parganas, on Friday.

Their concern for their children's future, whom Sarkar assisted in getting admitted to the district's schools, is the basis for their appeal.

After serving his term at Balagarh for a few days, Sarkar was moved to the Gaighata block and took the extra effort to get the 600 or so children of migrant laborers admitted to the schools. Eventually, the Hooghly district pilot project adopted it.

The project's goal is to guarantee that migrant laborers' children in Bengal do not go without a basic education while they are there.

The children's parents met the BDO at his office on Friday, expressing their concern that if he left Balagarh, their children's schooling will suffer.

The BDO admitted Sona Nayak to Class IV. Moli Devi, a migrant laborer from Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, said: "My daughter's school admission has altered her life. I'm worried that the brick kiln won't let me take BDO sahab to school when she departs. I thus came to ask him to remain here for the benefit of our kids."

The children arrived with flowers and chocolates, many of them inconsolable. They begged Sarkar to return.

Even when Sarkar broke down in tears, he acknowledged his impotence and gave the kids and their parents hope that nothing would stop them from going to school while he was away. In order to guarantee their appropriate education without any obstacles, he also pledged to stay in contact with them.

Sarkar, moved by the children's desire to study, took them to lunch at a restaurant in Balagarh town where they tried chicken biryani for the first time.

As they sat in the restaurant's comfort, the kids enjoyed eating with their "BDO Uncle" as the staff members gave each youngster individual attention. Sarkar declared, "The kids deserve this special treatment."

"They added a nice touch to my day today. "I feel overburdened," BDO Sarkar remarked.

It's wonderful to hear that these kids' parents understand how important education is. Balagarh Bijoykrishna Mahavidyalaya truly took the initiative to educate these kids, and I, speaking on behalf of the state government, gave the support required by getting the kids admitted to schools and making sure they had food," Sarkar told The Telegraph.

According to sources inside the Hooghly administration, Jirat Colony High School and Balagarh Bijoykrishna Mahavidyalaya's NSS program served as the inspiration for the pilot initiative. "The parents' worries are valid because certain brick kilns were causing issues. To make sure that nothing prevents these kids from receiving an education, however, Niladri Babu has already brought up the matter with higher authorities, according to Partha Chattopadhyaya, a professor and NSS coordinator at Balagarh Bijoykrishna Mahavidyalaya.