Education is an important yardstick when it comes to measuring the development of a place, be it a district or the whole country. Hence, DM of Janjgir-Champa in Chhattisgarh, Taran Prakash Sinha, IAS, wants to develop this sector in his new place of posting.
He is already introducing positive changes in Janjgir-Champa, like the ones which he had successfully brought about in the education system in his previous posting in Rajnandgaon district. The phenomenal changes that he ushered in Rajnandgaon led to people bypassing private institutions to get their children admitted in government schools.
Indian Masterminds spoke with Mr. Taran Prakash Sinha to get more information about the changes he is currently introducing in Janjgir-Champa.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Mr. Sinha did not have a very privileged life during his childhood as he was raised in a very backward area of Chhattisgarh. Talking about his early life, he told Indian Masterminds, “I come from a rural area of Bilaspur, where I completed my schooling from a Hindi medium government school. During that time, one did not get the best of facilities while studying in a government institution. The time has changed now and government schools are becoming well equipped with facilities that are provided in private institutions. I work with the same zeal to provide all those facilities to the upcoming generation which I never got when I was young.”
RECITING SANSKRIT SHLOKA
In Janjgir-Champa, the Collector has taken up a campaign of inspecting all the government schools in the district where he aims to strengthen the education system and rectify prevailing flaws. During one such inspection at a school in Javalpur under Baloda development block, the Collector saw a Sanskrit class going on for class 9 students. Becoming nostalgic, he entered the class and started interacting with the students. The children were greatly motivated to see the Collector visiting them in their class.
Mr. Sinha said, “The feeling of entering the classroom was real as I remembered the time when I was in the ninth grade, learning Sanskrit more than three decades back. I entered the classroom and asked the children to recite a Sanskrit shloka which is one question generally asked in the examination. At first, the children hesitated. However, a boy named Devendra stood up to narrate the stanza.”
The child started reciting the shloka but the Collector interrupted him and narrated the stanza properly. He recited, “Śailē śailē ca māṇikyaṁ mauktikaṁ na gajē gajē. Sādhavō na hi sarvatra candanaṁ na vanē vanē”. It meant: All the mountains do not have the precious stones, you will not get pearls from all the elephants; Noblemen cannot be found everywhere, sandalwood is not found in all the woods.
Mr. Sinha also carries small gifts with him to greet children during such inspections. He says, “This builds the motivation of children manifold as they remember the token of appreciation all their lives. Such small interventions create a lot of impact in a child’s life as they start dreaming of becoming someone like us one day. Also, having studied in a similar background, I managed to reach a stage where I achieved a place in the prestigious civil services. Therefore, it creates a thought among the children that nothing is impossible.”
During such inspections, the teachers also get alert as the officer conducts random visits. Due to this, they are also coming to the school on time and are taking up the responsibility of developing the children’s life seriously, he added.
UPGRADING SCHOOLS
English is considered a weakness in Chhattisgarh, and to overcome it, the government has launched the Swami Atmanand Government English Medium School Scheme to give a new face to the government schools of the state. With the same vision, Mr. Sinha is also taking proactive steps like the ones that he took in his previous posting. As soon as he was appointed the DC of Janjgir Champa, he sanctioned an additional building in 105 government schools of the district. This has been taken to improve the infrastructure of the schools so that the children get a proper environment to study in, where all-round development of their personality takes place.
