A man with a mission: Teaching free for 40 years!

Updated on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

He's a man with a noble mission to educate all. Meet Balaram Das, aged 62 years, with an experience of over four decades.

In an admirable show of community spirit, Das has been teaching children for free at Gobindapur, a remote village in Odisha's Kendrapara district, for the last 40 years.

A toast of the villagers, Das' name, however, doesn't figure on the panel of teachers of the government-run Gobindapur Upper Primary School. While others take salaries, he teaches children for free.

At 10 AM sharp, Das arrives on his bicycle at the school, says headmaster Ashok Kumar Sahu. "He is an excellent teacher.
The method of teaching adopted by him is unique. He is widely loved and respected in the village."

Officially, though no outsider is allowed to teach in government schools, an exception was made for Das considering his passion to teach, he adds.

However, as a token of appreciation for his service to the cause of education, Das is lately being paid Rs 500 every month. Though he had declined to accept the sum initially, he agreed later, Sahu says.

Das believes that lack of education is the root cause of all evils and malaise. His "mission" began in 1971 when he started teaching poor children of his poverty-stricken village for whom there was no access to education.

"Our village had no access to primary education and when the primary school was set up, many parents could not afford to admit their wards because of poverty. So I thought it was my duty to teach them.

"After the government set up the school in the village in the late seventies, I took up classroom teaching on the demand of villagers," recalls a proud Das.

The humble man took to agriculture for his livelihood. Villagers used to help him voluntarily whenever he needed them. "Many gave him money by which he could marry off his two daughters," claims Subhransu Sutar, a local social activist.

A man with a mission: Teaching free for 40 years!

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