JHARKHAND: The desire to give back to society is what drives Vikas Chandra Srivastava to go beyond his professional duty and reach out to students — to teach them, motivate them and guide them to become good professionals, good citizens and good human beings. That in the process he also helps bridge the divide between police and the people is a bonus.
This sub-divisional police officer in Deoghar provides expert advice and guidance to the students preparing for competitive examinations free of cost every day. More than 4,000 students have enrolled for his session every morning at Ambedkar Library. Srivastava started the initiative to give quality education to poor students who want to crack the civil services examination but can’t afford coaching classes. Most of his students are from remote villages and humble backgrounds.
“My objective is to remove exam phobia from minds of the children and encourage them to learn not only to fetch good marks but also for overall development. They must do their work honestly, as being a good citizen is the prime objective of getting education,” says the SDPO. What drove the police officer to embark on this teaching mission was the desire to share whatever he had learnt in life with “the future of this country” so that they could benefit from it. “My approach of teaching is different from traditional method; I make maximum use of diagrams and pictures to make students understand easily in less time. For this, I have to keep myself updated and connected with the outside world which helps in my personality development, too.” His students vouch for his teaching technique.
“His unique style of teaching makes it easier for us to understand and helps build our confidence. We are really grateful that a senior police officer is guiding us for civil services without taking any fee,” said a student Pritam Priya. It’s not just those preparing for competitive exams but also schoolchildren who benefit from Srivastav’s knowledge and guidance. He visits different schools once in a week and motivates children for setting their goals and pursuing them successfully. He has become so popular that schools have to wait for weeks for their turn. Srivastava feels that while policemen usually have a very busy schedule, one has to take time out to do one’s bit to change society and make the world a better place.