Arup Mukherjee, a police constable in Kolkata runs a residential school for the abandoned kids.
In 2011, Mukherjee started the Puncha Nabadisha Model School and eight years later, the school went on to expand its operations and is now operating in nine rooms and classrooms, a kitchen, washrooms and also surrounded by CCTV surveillance.
The children over there, not only consider it as a school, but also call it a home. Mukherjee initially started the school with a two-room school block and is now spread over an area of 9000 sq ft.
Mukherjee runs the school, all with his savings and salary as a constable. He even gets donations from different parts of the country. Currently, the residential school is located about 50 km from the town of Purulia. The school is now housing 112 tribal children, the age groups ranging from 6 to 13.
Speaking to the media, Mukherjee says, “I feel happy when these children call me daddy or baba. I started this school with 15-20 children now there are more than 100 of them. I spend Rs 45,000 every month here but I can’t provide them with good food as I don’t take any help from the government.”