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Manoj Sharma
New Delhi
15th July 2007
TEN- YEAR- OLD Deepak Prahlad knows his station
in life. The short swarthy child is also aware
of the long distance he has to cover to reach
there and stupendous effort it will take on his
part. He wants to become a doctor; which is
quite a big dream, considering he is one of the
thousands of street children in Delhi who have
dreams in their eyes but not destiny on their
side. But this son of a rickshaw puller from
Indore seems determined to change the course of
his destiny.
“I know what it takes to be a doctor. I need to
study hard and need to save a lot of money”,
says the cheeky child, beaming with confidence.
Prahlad goes to a MCD school and works as a rag
picker. He has started saving money by
depositing 30-40 rupees daily in the Bal Vikas
Bank or Children’s Development Bank (CDB)- a
bank for street children and by street children,
located at the MCD’s night shelter near Old
Delhi Railway Station.
The CDB is a bank with a difference: owned and
managed by children as a cooperative. It has
1,300 members in the city, all of who are street
children like Prahlad. The bank has helped them
to take charge of their finances and has given
them choices in life.
Like any bank, CDB has the facility of current
and savings account with 3.5 per cent interest
on deposits. Every transaction is registered in
passbooks issued to the members. The bank also
gives loans to the members if they wish to start
a small business. The CDB has two child managers
who look after its day-to-day affairs. Members
and managers have paid visits to HSBC bank in
Delhi to get a hands-on knowledge about the
functioning of an adult bank.
The money these children have saved in the CDB
has given them aspirations to get a life beyond
the city’s streets. “Some of them want to fly
very high!” says Rita Panicker of Butterflies,
the agency that helped set up the bank in 2001.
“We have been working for street children for
the past two decades. Some of these children are
very talented and have entrepreneur qualities.
One of the biggest problems facing these
children was that they did not have a safe place
to keep their hard-earned money. In fact, it was
the children who came up with the idea of the
children’s bank. It started with twenty members
in 2001 and now it has 1,300 members in Delhi.
Sudesh, the 15-year-old manager who takes care
of the bank’s current accounts, knows a lot
about money matters. “We are extremely careful
about whom to offer loans since we do not want
to see our members’ savings lost because of bad
loans. The skills I have learnt here are going
to stand me in good stead in life”, he says in a
matter of fact manner. The managers are selected
by children from among the members every six
months. It is quite a coveted job.
Sudesh’s ‘colleague’ Morpal (13), who is in
charge of the savings accounts, seems equally
savvy in monetary affairs. He is busy making
entries in the registers on the desk inside the
small cubicle where he keeps the passbooks, the
registers and cash.
What is the maximum amount deposited by a child
in this bank? “One of our members, Ravi
Rajeshwar, has Rs 5,200 in his account. The
highest amount deposited in the bank. If one
wishes to withdraw a big amount then I have to
be informed atleast three days in advance”, says
the affable Morpal, who hails from Bareilly and
wants to join the army.
Everyday at 6:30 pm, the bank buzzes with
activity, with several children trooping in to
deposit money after work. Most of them work as
rag pickers; others sell assorted items at the
roadside pavements.
Every child is clear about what he wants to do
with the money he is saving in the bank.
Eleven-year-old Durgesh Veragi, a rag picker who
hails from Raigargh, Chhattisgarh is saving
money so he can study and get a government job.
He is a great Harry Potter fan and cannot wait
to watch the new Harry Potter movie. “I will
surely watch his new movie. I will earn some
extra money for buying the ticket”, he says with
a beatific smile on his face. Ten-year-old Ram
Singh from Mathura does not plan to go back to
his hometown unlike most other children. “Delhi
gives a lot of opportunities to make it big in
life. I want to start my own auto repair shop
with the money I am saving”, he says.
Panicker feels these children are very street
smart and quite conservative when it comes to
their savings in the bank. They are smarter than
middle class children and understand the value
of their money. They have entrepreneur abilities
and given the opportunity, they can do very well
in life”, she says. So far, CDB has helped
several children start their own small
businesses such as vegetable cooperatives”. That
is indeed a great leap forward for these
children of a lesser god.
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