A food delivery agent educates and feeds 400+ underprivileged children

One man’s waste is another man’s wealth. Meet Kolkata’s ‘Roll Kaku’ who distributes cancelled food orders to hungry children in order to encourage them to attend school.

Pathikrit Saha grew up in poverty, sometimes without two square meals a day. He vowed to himself that when he started earning money, no child would go to bed hungry. “One day I was walking on the railway platform when a child hugged my legs and started begging for money,” he recounts. “I tried to ignore him but he kept saying that his mother would throw him out if he did not bring back money.” That was the moment a shocked Pathikrit decided to start a makeshift school on the railway platform, offering tiffin to the kids so they would attend his classes. In the six years since, his classes have grown from 1 to over 400. 

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Pathikrit though. After the authorities demolished his paatshala on the platform, he resigned from his government job and became a food delivery agent in order to persevere with his mission – all, without his family’s support. In his new job, when he saw so much excess, undelivered food go to waste,  he thought to put it into better use and started distributing it to children who do not even get one meal a day, hence earning the nickname ‘Roll Kaku’ for himself.

Today, his efforts have expanded his school into 10 units providing free education, supplies and clothes to 415 students, for whom he even organises outings and treats . Thanks to his initiative, 250 children returned to school post-lockdown instead of dropping out. “I want them to have all the privileges that any kid who goes to a private school has”, says the man whose life revolves around these children. In Pathikrit, they have found an unwavering support who believes in their talent and strives to give them an equal shot at life.

This story is part of a series by The Better India, in collaboration with Aditya Birla Group. The series aims to amplify positive examples of people acting as #AForceForGood.