Maharajganj: A police officer in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj is changing the conventional perception about cops by adopting a side profession other than his policing duty. Sunil Rai was a teacher before he was posted as SHO Nautanwa police station in Maharajganj district. But the official decided to continue with his endeavor to educate children while parallelly performing his duties.
To pursue his noble ambition of teaching children, the SHO adopted a primary school located in Nautanwa, where he goes to teach school once a week. Apart from teaching the children, he also provides financial aid to the students by distributing the necessary educational aid to them.
He also makes sure that he maintains a cordial relationship with the children where they look at him as a friend than a teacher or a police officer. Narrating the lighter parts of his endeavor, Rai said the students were baffled initially after they saw a police van standing in front of their school. "But when I told them that I am here as a teacher and a friend to them, and not as a policeman, they were all relieved. I hope the fear that people generally have about police officials does not retain at least in these students. It is a good start to remove the common notions about policemen," he said.
The SHO teaches Maths and usually ends up getting full attention from the students. Rai believes that teaching is in his genes. Wherever he has been posted so far, he has taken up the responsibility to teach at least one subject at the government schools in his vicinity.
Rai believes that his turning into a teacher serves a two-pronged purpose -- he gets to teach students which he loves to do, and it helps in changing the wrong perceptions around police officials in the country. Rai hopes that his teaching the children will enable them to serve the society in future. The establishment of an educated, safe and civilized society can be ensured only by strengthening the foundation of their education and culture, and that is what I am trying to do in whatever way possible," he said.
