Woman railway cop becomes a 'lesson' in Maharashtra textbook
Mumbai, June 11: A policewoman attached to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Mumbai has achieved a unique distinction - her feats of child rescue have been saluted as a study chapter in the SSC textbooks in Maharashtra.
The woman is RPF Sub-Inspector Rekha Mishra, 32, posted with the Central Railway. She is credited with rescuing hundreds of destitute, missing, kidnapped or runaway children from various railway stations on the network in the past few years.
Her daring exploits to save these children, often battling great odds, figure in the Maharashtra State Board's Class 10 textbook in Marathi this academic year.
Hailing from an army officer's family from Allabahad in Uttar Pradesh, Mishra joined the RPF in 2014 and is currently posted at the famed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
She was felicitated at a special function organised by Central Railway General Manager D.K. Sharma here on Monday for her achievements which have been noticed widely.
"She is doing an excellent job and simultaneously serving a noble social cause too. Her being part of the chapter in the textbook will definitely inspire the new generations," Sharma said.
Mishra said: "It's a moment of great pride for me... Most children run away from homes after fights with their parents or siblings... Some do it to meet their Facebook friends or even to meet their favourite films stars, and others are lured by the glamour of Mumbai. A few unfortunate ones have also been kidnapped."
She said that her team keeps an eye open to ensure that such children - mostly in the impressionable age group of 13-16 - don't end up in the wrong hands and suffer, and the final aim is to reunite them with their families.
In the past four years, she and her alert team have rescued more than 430 such innocent children including 45 minor girls, a deaf-and-dumb boy and many others who couldn't speak Hindi and interpreters had to be called.
A majority of the children were found to be from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and some others from all over India, with the numbers usually shooting up during the summer vacations, she said.
While the RPF managed to trace the families of around two dozen such children, the rest are lodged in children's care homes in the city till their kin are located.
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Kharge likens BJP and RSS to poison; says 'poisonous snake should be killed'
Pune, Nov 17: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday likened the BJP and RSS to "poison" and termed them as "politically most dangerous" in India.
Addressing a rally in Sangli on the penultimate day before the campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly polls concluded, Kharge used the "killing the poisonous snake" analogy in his speech.
"If there is anything which is politically the most dangerous in India is the BJP and RSS. They are like poison. If a snake bites, the person (who is bitten) dies...such a poisonous snake should be killed," said Kharge.
He targeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the death of 10 newborns in a fire at a medical college.
Without naming Vishal Patil, the Congress rebel and Independent MP from Sangli, Kharge accused him of betraying the party and supporting his sister-in-law, who is contesting as an Independent nominee in the November 20 assembly elections.
In a dig at BJP, Kharge said the number of leaders who campaigned in Maharashtra polls outnumbered the number of candidates of the saffron party in the fray.
"The Prime Minister, Home Minister (Amit Shah) and other leaders have come here. Today, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath was also here. No idea what happened to him. In UP, in a fire at a hospital in Jhansi, 10 kids died. Despite that, his rallies in Maharashtra didn't stop," the Congress president said.
Kharge took potshots at PM Narendra Modi for holding rallies for state-level elections.
This is an election for assembly and not to elect the prime minister of the country, he said, adding that his (Modi's) "thirst for authority" is unsatiated.
He slammed Modi for not visiting strife-torn Manipur and instead travelling abroad.
"Modi was here till yesterday. Today he is abroad. Manipur is burning, people are dying, adivasi women are disrespected, and women are raped but Modi never visited Manipur. He is on foreign tours. Today he is also visiting a country. I want to tell him first to look after your home. Make the country strong first. You can go anywhere later," Kharge added.
He questioned the output of Modi's meetings with Donald Trump, Pakistan's prime minister, and presidents of Russia and China from India's perspective.
The 83-year-old leader said his age didn't stop him from supporting the Congress' ideology and meeting people.
"There are leaders who were given positions by the party and benefited. We are not criticising anyone but if the Congress party is giving you everything, you should not betray it," said Kharge in an apparent dig at Vishal Patil.
Kharge said the Congress didn't want any rift in the family of (former chief minister) late Vasantdada Patil, who hailed from Sangli.
"I was told that the Lok Sabha MP from Sangli (Vishal Patil) won with the support of Congress party and Congress party has re-inducted him with respect," he said.
Kharge said he respects the woman candidate who is contesting as an Independent because of her association with Congress.
"I had promised and told Ramesh Chennithala (Maharashtra Congress incharge) that we will offer whatever she wants after the elections. We sent Chennithala and KC Venugopal to talk to them as we did not want any rift in Vasantdada Patil's house and Sangli," he added.
Kharge said his assurances, however, didn't work.
Jayashree Patil, from former chief minister Vasantdada Patil’s family, has entered the fray as an independent candidate from Sangli against Congress nominee Prithviraj Patil.
"It is difficult to wake up those people who are pretending to sleep," Kharge added.
