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Sonu Upadhyaya.

Integrity Score 100

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To help children in Delhi’s slums escape a life of crime and labour, police constable Than Singh runs Than Singh ki Pathshala, a free school where he teaches more than 80 children to help them further enrol in government schools.When his parents would leave home for work, 10-year-old Ajay Ahirwal would accompany them to tourist spots across Delhi, where his father worked as a labourer. He, too, would engage in menial work, and his education remained ignored. Three years ago, however, things began to change. In fluent English, he tells his name to The Better India. “Ma’am ji, earlier I had never gone to school, but now I study in class 5. I study Social Science, Hindi, Maths, and English. Of all subjects, I like Social Science the most and I aspire to become a Police officer like uncle ji, and I will teach children like he does,” says Ajay, whose father works as a labourer at tourist spots.

Like Ajay, nearly 80 children from slum areas in Delhi, who had earlier been involved in odd jobs like rag picking, are able to study. This is thanks to the efforts of constable Than Singh.Born in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, Than Singh himself was raised with two siblings in the slums of Delhi. While his father would iron clothes for a living, he would sell corn on the street as a child. But he never underestimated the importance of studies, he says.