Roshni project for migrant children to be revived

District administration submits proposal to BPCL for aid

After hitting a rough weather, the much-acclaimed Roshni project for the educational upliftment of children of migrant workers in Ernakulam is likely to get a breather as the district administration has submitted a ₹97-lakh proposal to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) for support under its corporate social responsibility fund. The project had hit a roadblock after the forty education volunteers, who remain the backbone of the project, were not given their monthly salary of ₹10,000 from November last to March this year for paucity of funds. The innovative project was launched by the district administration in 2017 with the corporate social responsibility fund of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. Roshni project had also found mention in the Governor’s policy address last year. However, the revised project proposal in tune with the requirements of the online mode of education was pending before the district administration since August last. “It is a socially relevant project and we hope that the project would get the support from BPCL. The revised proposal has earmarked the pending salary for the educational volunteers and the expected expenditure till March next,” said Jafar Malik, District Collector. About 1,250 migrant children enrolled in Classes 1 to 7 across 40 government and aided schools in the district had received the benefit of the programme amidst the pandemic situation in the previous academic year.