Assam's Kumud Kalita To Get Teachers' Award 2023 For Nurturing Specially-Abled Children

Kumud Kalita, a teacher in a junior college in Assam's Pathsala town, has been improving the lives of many differently-abled and orphaned children.

Kumud Kalita

From being dismissed by neighbours as a 'lunatic' when he first set out to give such children home and education to being selected for this year's National Teachers' Award, Kumud Kalita has come a long way.

Put own investment into dream mission

59-year-old Kalita is a teacher at Pathsala Senior Secondary School and runs an orphanage-cum-day care centre for children with special needs, registered under the name ¡®Tapoban'.

Built on a two-bigha land owned by Kalita, there are about 25 children in the institution, while nearly 90 others with various disabilities from nearby areas attend the daycare facility.

The idea of helping abandoned or orphaned children with special needs germinated in Kalita's mind when he was pursuing his post-graduation at Gauhati University and came in contact with organisations helping such children.

"People are willing to help physically and mentally sound children, but the same acceptance is missing for the specially-abled ones. Hence, I am trying to do my bit for them," he said.

Specially abled children at Tapoban/ MyGov

The first child that Kalita and his wife took in was a two-year girl with cerebral palsy, who was abandoned at the foothills of Kamakhya temple in Guwahati in 2009. He travelled from Pathsala to Guwahati, a distance of over 100 km, and brought home the baby, naming her Kamakshi.

"She is 16 years old now and stays with me and my wife. Shristi, as we call her, needs constant attention as she cannot do even the simplest things herself. But we are glad to have her in our life," Kalita said.

Hailing from a farming family, Kalita grew up in abject poverty. He had to work in a restaurant to meet his university education expenses. Even after getting the job as a teacher, he went about selling books from door to door to save enough for his dream project.

"I was poor, but I had parents. The orphaned children have it worse; they don't even have emotional support... So, I decided to work for them," says Kalita, as quoted by IndiaToday.

A home for differently-abled & orphaned children

Tapoban provides all forms of care, including early intervention, physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, Braille education, and training in music and yoga.

Besides helping the children learn to perform their daily activities, formal education is also imparted to them.

Tapoban - an orphanage-cum-day care centre for children with special needs

"Children staying or learning in Tapoban have been appearing for matriculation examinations for the last few years. Some of them have successfully passed the exam, too," Hiren Kalita, a local resident associated with the institution, said.

Kalita is among the 75 awardees who will be conferred with the National Teachers' Award 2023. The purpose of National Awards to Teachers is to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers in the country and to honour those teachers who, through their commitment and industry, have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their students.

Kalita's efforts have also received adulation in the past in the form of different awards, including the Best Community Action Award by the chief minister of Assam, Rotary Vocational Excellence Award, Sushibrata Roychoudhury Memorial Award, State Level Best Teacher Award and the Children Champion Award by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

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