‘I Started With 5 Kids, Now I Teach 105’: Delhi Constable’s Free School Helps Kids Dream Big

Doing odd jobs around Delhi, these kids were deprived of education and opportunities. When constable Than Singh saw their plight, he jumped to action and started teaching them for free. Here's their story.

By Shivani Gupta

April 23, 2024

Every day, more than 100 young kids flock to the Red Fort parking area where Than Singh and his group of volunteers wait for them.

For the past nine years, the Delhi police constable has been running a school on the premises of the Lal Qila called ‘Than Singh Ki Pathshala’.

It was in 2015 that he first saw a few children selling plastic bottles on streets and picking up rags near Red Fort. “Many tourists would come and click their photos, mocking their circumstances, I hated to see that. These children were doing odd jobs for Rs 50 because their parents did not have enough resources to take care of them,” he says.

“I also found these children were eating gutka (betel nut). There are many people who influence children to walk the wrong path, but very few come forward to help them. I wanted to look for options so that these children could do what they are meant to do at this age – study,” he says.

Since then, Than Singh volunteered to teach these kids so that they are able to come to a little par with their peers. “My main objective to teach these children was to prevent them from committing crimes in the future and instil good behaviour among them,” he adds.

Watch this video to know more about Than Singh Ki Pathshala-

Edited by Padmashree Pande.

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