Madhur Mayee Adarsha Sikhya Niketan, a hostel for children of prisoners, caters to the emotional and social needs of the children to mitigate the shock of parental sin and its ruinous effect on their lives, writes Rashmi Rekha Das
A person commits a crime. He or she is arrested, convicted and thrown into prison. The prisoner pays for his/her wrongdoing. End of story? How many of us truly care for children whose parents are imprisoned? None or very few but they are the forgotten victims in the whole drama of crime and punishment. Madhur Mayee Adarsha Sikhya Niketan, a hostel for children of prisoners, caters to the emotional and social needs of the children to mitigate the shock of parental sin and its ruinous effect on their lives.
Madhur Mayee Adarsha Sikhya Niketan is the hostel run by an organisation named Patita Uddhar Samiti that shelters 55 children of jail inmates, all murder convicts and lodged in 21 jails across the state. All the children are aged between six and 14. Presently, it has 27 boys and 28 girls.
Sunday POST takes a look at the programmes initiated by the organisation with the help of different help groups aimed at supporting and counselling the children as well as caring for them. Set up near Jharpada Jail in Bhubaneswar November 14, 2003, the institution aims at alleviating the suffering of children by confronting the problems they face, and by providing education to them.
The hostel, established by the department of women and child development in 2003, is the first of its kind in India and the only such home in the state. According hostel superintendent Niroja Lakhmi Mohapatra, children are brought to the hostel once they reach the age of six. The organisation helps them complete graduation so that they can find out a job.
“The state government has done nothing but inaugurated the building. We try our best not to make children feel the crisis thanks to donation coming from voluntary organisations like ASSRA, Jay Kisan and Satya Sai Seva Samiti,” Mohapatra stated.
“It is the desire of every person to see his children receive good education. Even prisoners dream big about their children. They are also worried about their children’s future. The hostel authorities have not left any stone unturned to fulfill the needs of these children over the years. We are doing whatever is possible to keep the wards of jail inmates happy. The hostel inmates are being imparted arts, music and computer classes so that they can compete in this cut-throat competitive market. We are happy to see the inmates winning competitions at inter-state and even national levels. They have brought kudos to us as well as to themselves,” Mohapatra added.
The children are enrolled in different government schools in the city. “All of them are good students. Like every other child they also need all-round development,” she observed.
All boarders have been doing well in some field or the other. But it is unfortunate that the state government is not doing much for them. It has stopped giving funds to the hostel for the last two years.
“The hostel was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in 2003. Police Housing Board Corporation had spent `1.2 crore in setting up the hostel. The government used to provide an annual aid of `44,000 till 2012. But now it has stopped even that. Despite repeated requests the government is yet to pay heed to our plea. So, we have to depend on private donations,” said Mohapatra adding that she has even written to the child and woman department regarding sanctioning of funds.
The hostel is manned by 11 employees; however none of them are paid staff. All of them want to serve society. So they are serving for free. Be it Rakhi Purnima or Diwali, or Holi or Raja, every festival is celebrated with fanfare in the hostel so that the kids don’t feel the absence of their parents and a homely atmosphere. They are taken to Nicco Park, Biju Patnaik Park or to a theatre to watch a movie on a frequent basis.
Satya Sai Seva Samiti has decided to take 14 hostel inmates to Puttaparthi free of cost August 15. LIC has donated a bus to the hostel while study material and computers have been donated by IT firm Infosys. There are people who voluntarily teach these kids. They visit the hostel every week and take classes. City-based journalist Itishree Singh Rathore takes spoken English and marital art classes while choreographer Priyanshu Priyadev takes dance classes. Ansuya Sahoo takes art classes, said Mohapatra.
The hostel came into being owing to the effort of Abha Routray, secretary of Patita Uddhar Samiti. She thought of setting up a hostel for prisoners’ wards. This year, two borders of the hostel appeared for Matriculation examination and both of them passed in the first division.
What the inmates say…
Rekha (15), along with her sister Anjali, was brought to the hostel in 2005. Rekha is studying Plus II second year (Arts) while her sister Anjali is pursuing Plus II first year in BJB College. They go to college on their bicycles every day. The sisters, residents of Berhampur, visit their relatives and family members during vacation. Besides academics, Rekha excels in music, dance and art. The duo said when asked about their life in the hostel that the authorities never make them feel they are far away from home and parents. “All the staff are really very caring especially our superintendent madam,” they said.
Gita Sabar, who studies in Municipality Government High School, says the hostel is her home. “The authorities try to supply everything on a timely basis even before we can raise the demand. Such is their affection,” she said.
Bhanumati Mahakuda who was brought to the hostel in 2003 said she was grateful to have teachers like Niroja Lakhmi madam. Rohit Bagati got admission at Khapuria ITI this year. He has a fixed goal in mind. “I want to become an engineer,” he said when asked about his goal.
Govind Mahakud, Rahul Sethy and Manoj Patra expressed their gratitude to the hostel for giving them a meaningful life. “Our family members visit us regularly. They feel proud that we are carving out a worthwhile life for ourselves,” the inmates maintained.
A FRIEND
National youth award winner Sushant Sahoo, who visits the hostel on a regular basis and renders whatever help is possible said it was a matter of pride for him to be able to serve such children. “I don’t want to introduce them as prisoners’ kids before the whole world. It will make an adverse impact on them. Rather I would love to address them as inmates of Madhur Mayee Adarsha Sikhya Niketan. These children are innocent like flowers. Why should they bear the brunt of their parents’ fault? Apart from getting quality education, these children are also taught how to make craft material from waste like used thermocol, plastic bottles and waste paper rolls. All of them have something special in them. It is our duty to encourage them so that they will come up with flying colours,” he said.
SUPER SUPERINTENDENT
The hostel superintendent Niroja Lakhmi Mohapatra is a woman of many talents. She is also the founder of Satyabhama Devi College for the hearing impaired. She has dedicated her life to the service of hapless children. Mohapatra, who never tires, said her parents were her inspiration. She learned the art of social service from them and decided not to get married and devote her life to the well-being of children. A resident of Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur, Mohapatra left her house after her father, a cancer patient, died and started serving needy children in 1998. She has never looked back. She stays in the hostel.
“These children are my family. I cannot spend a single day without them as they have become an integral part of my life”, she quipped.