Lucknow: For 10-yr-old Rajkumar, it was a new dawn today. After two years, the boy went back to school once again. A resident of Luvkush Nagar urban slum near Indira Nagar, Rajkumar was part of the Strengthening of Primary Education in Slums programme - an initiative by the ITC and Participatory Action for Community Empowerment (PACE). The programme, officially flagged off in Luvkush Nagar today, will start operating in 10 other slums within the week.

Under it, 2,000 children in 20 slums of the city are to be sent back to school. Aged between 3 to 14 years, they are either dropouts or have never attended school. They will also be taught about community participation towards cleanliness and child rights.

“Mujhe school chhode do saal ho gaye, lekin kabhi wapas jaane ki nahin sochi. Par aaj in bhaiya logon ko dekh kar wapas jaane ka mann karta hai (It has been two years since I left school. Never thought I’ll be able to go back. But now looking at these people, I feel like returning to classroom),” said Rajkumar.

“My father is a driver and was not able to pay my fees. So I dropped out. Now I’ll be able to go to school again,” said a beaming Shilpa, who is among the 50-odd kids chosen in Luvkush Nagar. The programme will ensure that children like Shilpa and Rajkumar not only enroll, but are also able to go to school regularly.

“We are trying to see that none of the children have to work as labourers at the cost of their development and education. The various government schemes are made available to people here and they will form community groups for ensuring cleanliness, hygiene and good health services for themselves,” said Thompson, Director of PACE and the project coordinator.

The schemes to which PACE and ITC will help provide access include BPL cards, various scholarships for education, mid-day meals, rural health and community hygiene programmes. Regarding the choice of slums, Thompson said they had done a baseline survey on problems related to civic amenities and education options.

“On the basis of the survey, PACE chose to work in these slums, whereas ITC as a part of its social responsibility provided support to the programme,” he said. Apart from Luvkush Nagar, the programme will be on in Jai Prakash Nagar, Saleh Nagar, Chhitwapur (which happens to be one of the biggest slums of the city) and Sanjay Gandhi Nagar.

PN Singharia, branch manager, ITC, said this is a part of the projects ITC is supporting in Lucknow district. The other projects supported by them include e-Choupal for farmers and support to women SHGs of Lucknow Mahila Sewa Trust for economic empowerment.