For quite some time nobody noticed the small girl living in a prison, where she should not have been in the first place. Nobody, not even the jail authorities saw anything untoward or unusual in this.
And guess who came to the rescue of this child? The District Collector (DC) of Bilaspur in Chattisgarh, Dr. Sanjay Kumar Alung. And that too while he was taking an official round of the prison complex!
As per his duty, Dr. Alung was verifying and examining the personal details of the prisons’ inmates. At the same time, he was making sure to discuss their concerns and keeping a check on how well the police officers appointed on duty were maintaining the jail and the surroundings, when he came across a sight that stopped him in his tracks!
First Encounter
A timid, little girl sat on a bench among a group of women prisoners. Her sparkling eyes warmed the IAS officer’s heart and he knelt down to have a chat with her. He reached out and inquired about her. As a result of the conversation, he came to know that her mother had passed away due to jaundice when Sanya (name changed at the request of Dr. Alung) was just 15 days old. Her father, convicted of a serious crime, had been in jail for five years now and Sanya had to shift there with him because the kid had no one else to take her responsibility.
The story of this adorable little girl living in a prison, without any fault of hers, broke his heart and he made up his mind to take full responsibility for the girl.
Taking Responsibility
In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, Dr. Sanjay Alung gave us the details of this very unusual case, and how he eventually became the girl’s savior!
R Alung said that getting Sanya outside the jail and into a good school wasn’t prompted by any outside factor. When he reached out to her and asked her what she wanted to do, she simply replied that she “wanted to study in a big school”, and instantly the urge to do something for her, got to him! He started making inquiries about her admission prospects.
When asked about how he managed to do everything the way it happened, Dr. Aland said “The society is full of people who are ready to help you. When you go out to do something, carrying good intentions in your heart, the world comes to lend a helping hand. The school in which I got her admitted had a big role to play in it too.”
NGOs Follow Suit
Coming around his story and following in the footsteps of Dr. Alung’s initiative, various Non-Governmental Organizations have stepped forward to help the other kids stuck in jail for their guardian’s deeds, to acquire admissions in good schools that assure superior education and facilities.
For today’s youth and the general public, Dr. Alung gave the message “sachet rahe, sajag rahe, swasth rahe”, which means “Stay conscious, Stay attentive and Stay healthy”. He also added the words, “Khoob padhein, Khoob badhein” (study hard, achieve much).
Dr. Alung’s humanitarian act has proved to be fruitful and also motivated various others to come forward and help in building stepping stones for children of prison inmates. Similar initiatives are being taken because of the belief that children should not miss out on opportunities for no fault of theirs. Dr. Alang has already put his hands to the plow. Let us wait and see if others will be following his lead!
