Stepping beyond ‘khaki’ to re-shape futures: Uttarakhand cop runs camp to provide job training to youths

The camp has four instructors who train youngsters to join the armed forces and also encourage them to make their career in agriculture and allied fields which can generate jobs.
The instructors at the camp train youngsters to join armed forces and encourage them to have a career in agriculture and allied fields. (Photo | Express)
The instructors at the camp train youngsters to join armed forces and encourage them to have a career in agriculture and allied fields. (Photo | Express)

UTTARAKHAND:  Inspector Ram Kishore Saklani is a ‘dujey kism ka inspector’ (an inspector of a different kind) among his peers as well as the people in Uttarakhand. His way of policing, motivation and assistance to the youth has earned him so much respect that he was showered with flowers at a ceremony to mark his transfer from the Muni-ki-Reti police station in Rishikesh, where he has set up a transit camp to “train youth for life.”

Despite his transfer, the transit camp is very much on and he continues to pay the four instructors for their services. The camp has four instructors who train youngsters to join the armed forces and also encourage them to make their career in agriculture and allied fields which can generate jobs. As many as 21 of his students have been selected for government jobs, including 17 in the armed forces, while others have started dairies and other businesses to support themselves.

“Our emphasis is on training the youngsters for life’s unpredictable circumstances and dealing with them confidently. I tell my students that finding a government job is not the end of the story,” says Saklani. His seniors support his initiative. “Our director general visited the Muni-ki-Reti camp and praised us. He has assured us of his support. I am inspired by his book ‘Khaki me Insaan’ (the human in khaki),” says Saklani, who holds masters in English Literature.

Never too busy to be unavailable, the inspector takes time off to tutor children whose parents cannot afford fees of private coaching institutes. For Saklani, a native of Pawwala Soura village of Dehradun district, it all started in 2017 when he was posted as in-charge of a police station in Narendra Nagar of Tehri district. There, he started a training centre for the youth under an initiative titled ‘Youth United for Virtual Awareness.’ “I found issues like alcohol, drug abuse and unemployment rampant among the youth, especially the teenagers. The antidote is sports and agricultural activities.

Eventually, the centre enrolled over 250 students,” says Saklani. He would get up at 6 am and reach the camp at 8 am where he taught for two hours before reporting for duty at his police station at 10 am. Aman Rawat (24) was a trainee who was helped by Saklani to set up a milk purchasing centre. “Sir taught us various subjects and conducted mock tests every Saturday. We had physical exercise sessions in the evening,” says Rawat. He was appreciated by state agriculture minister Subodh Uniyal for creating jobs.

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The New Indian Express
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