BIHAR: Helping educate children who cannot afford it is a service to humanity, believes Dr Satya Prakash, a 2011 batch IPS officer currently posted as the deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Shahabad range. A firm believer in the power of education in transforming lives, Prakash takes a keen interest in educating underprivileged children.
Prakash hails from Hilsa in Nalanda district. He received education in his initial years in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. His father Mithilesh Prasad was posted in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa at the time, and his mother was a homemaker. Second among three siblings, he went to Delhi University for higher studies and later did a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Before joining IPS in 2011, Prakash worked as a research assistant and later took over as the senior deputy collector in Jharkhand.
Ask him what role education has played in his life, and pat comes his response: “It has been very helpful in my career as an IPS officer. My research work helped me understand others’ mindset and work in a democratic manner. After all, we are meant for the welfare of people.”
When off duty, Prakash would visit villages and hamlets mostly inhabited by tribals in the Maoist-infested districts where he served as the police chief. “Whether in Aurangabad or Banka, I got enormous support from people for my initiatives in improving policing as well as education,” the IPS officer says.
“Education is the only way to turn one’s life around. It is a basic need,” Prakash asserts, adding, “No matter where I get posted, I always urge the parents there to send their children to schools so that they could have a bright future.”
Before being promoted to DIG recently, Prakash served as Patna City SP and the SP of Madhubani, Banka, Aurangabad and Saran districts. Not a long time back, he paid a visit to Badia village – which falls under the Dehri subdivision in Rohtas district – to distribute books, pencils, pens and school bags among children.
This was in line with the government’s idea of community policing for the residents of Maoist-infested districts. Children are encouraged to pursue education. And women are given stitching machines so that they can earn a livelihood.
Prakash’s wife, a professor at a university in Bihar, firmly backs her husband’s efforts to change lives.
While posted as the Madhubani SP, Prakash would help children of migrant workers. A large number of people from the Mithilanchal region go and work outside the state. So, during his stint as SP, police personnel would visit the hamlets and teach the children after wrapping up their work. The police initiative earned him high praise from the locals.