Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, due to the closure of schools, regular classes have switched to online mode for finishing the academic year. This online learning through mobile phones or other electronic devices has resulted in under-privileged children getting substantially excluded from learning as such costly gadgets are beyond their reach.
Considering this, the Jharkhand Police started a noble initiative called Gadget Bank whereby the old and used digital devices will be distributed to the poor children. The gadget bank will repair used or rejected laptops, smartphones, and tabs to distribute them to these children so that they will be able to partake in online learning.
The Director-General of Police (DGP), Neeraj Sinha said that it is a very unique idea of the state to assist students in online education. “Those having smartphones or laptops can attend online classes but those who lack them are not able to do so. This is likely to increase the existing inequality in society,” the DGP told the media.
Subsequently, the drive will help the community at the grassroots level. The different Police departments have all tweeted out to their followers on social media informing how and where can the public come up with their old devices. Due to security reasons and fear of being misused, many people avoid handing over their old devices. To allay such fears, the police will maintain a record of the devices from the time when they will be handed over to them to avoid any adverse occurrence. For any further reference, the people donating their devices will be provided with a copy of the submission. Furthermore, the devices will be then conveyed to the needy students under the supervision of their school authorities and a written assurance will be taken from them to use the device for educational purposes only.
Notably, students coming from impoverished backgrounds have been facing problems in attending online classes. Recently, a heartwarming incident happened, when an 11-year-old girl from Jamshedpur was helped by a Mumbai man who provided her a smartphone to pursue her online classes. The girl named Tulsi Kumari who sells mangoes by the roadside, was thrilled when one Ameya Hete bought 12 mangoes from her worth Rs 1,20,000 paying Rs 10,000 for each mango. Later the money was transferred to her father Srimal Kumar’s account on Wednesday.
