Varanasi Professor Took Rs 53 Lakh Loan To Educate The Orphan And Poor Children

You don’t need to be rich to give back to society. Adding your knowledge, aide and guidance to those who are less fortunate is far more noble than merely giving away charity. Such is the story of Professor Rajiv Srivastava from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

His Story

Srivastava started teaching at Mughalsarai station in late 80’s. In 1992, his father Dr. Radheshyam Srivastava made a condition asking him to either choose a family or live with the children. The professor chose latter.

My family asked me to choose any one between social service and home. Since then I left home.

He then left for Banaras (Varanasi) railway station with only his marksheet, and did not turn return again. Since he had nowhere to go, Srivastava took shelter at the Banaras railway station for nearly three months. He then completed his PhD from Kashi University.

Almost after four years of leaving his home, he got an opportunity to teach on contract at Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1996. After working with them for nearly a decade, he was offered a job from the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

About His Contribution To Society

Professor Rajiv Srivastava has built “Subhash Bhavan” in Varanasi by taking a loan of Rs 53 lakh, to educate the orphan and poor children. The institution currently has 40 children of mixed faith living under one roof, of which 28 are Muslims and 12 are Hindus. Rajiv says that this work gives him peace.

We all live together. Till now I have given training to 700 children.

Subhash Bhavan is built on 2720 sq ft
All children here study in Government Queens College and Government Girls Inter College (GGIC))
10 children are studying under higher education, for example Archana and Najma are doing their PhD from BHU, while Nazneen has done MA from BHU
Drum plays here at five in the morning
Prayers of Mother India are held daily at each dawn
The children later get involved in the cleanliness drive and their aim is to learn making sacrifice when required
On Sundays, there is a Jai Hind Bharat Salami Sabha with tricolor as well
The kitchen is named Annapurna, and Nazneen Ansari is in-charge of the same
Eeli is responsible for arranging the house of worship and Lord’s Aarti each day

Professor Rajiv explains that this building has its own discipline.

There are committees for discipline in Subhash Bhavan. We teach them about cleanliness drives, bathroom behaviour, water conservation, food, expenses, and electricity conservation. We also have a committee for Garbage Disposal, Safety and all are looked after by children themselves

Pass for students

There are three types of passes made for children in Subhash Bhavan:

Temporary: Temporary passes are given for those staying for a day
Permanent: Permanent passes are given for those joining Subhash Bhavan
Short-lived: Short-term passes are given to those students who do research at Subhash Bhavan on leader Subhash Chandra Bose, Vishal Bharat, Grain Bank and Children Bank

Till date over 700 children are trained with this loan money. The ground was purchased for Subhash Bhavan in the year 2016. The foundation was laid on June 17, 2018. Earlier, Rajiv lived in a rented house, however, on February 18, this year, they shifted to the Bhavan building.