The population in the city of Rajkot
is estimated to be 1.8 million.
The children from the city slums or communities
in the interior rural pockets around the
city of Rajkot have been identified to
be the under-privileged. The population
of these under-privileged children is
estimated to be over 30,000.
These underprivileged children, known
as the Rag pickers, go out early each
day and forage for waste bottles, metal,
plastics and rags. Their collections are
then taken by their mothers to the scrap
merchants and exchanged for money. Bottles
are worth about 2 Rupees per kilogram
(2.5pence UK or 4.25 cents US) just to
give you some idea of the rates of pay
for this task.
The RCRM
has been serving these children through
their various community service projects.
The RCRM’s mobile van picks up these
children from their residences to bring
them to an adopted school. Here these
children are assisted for a clean bath
and get them dressed in clean clothes.
Thereafter they are taken to camps for
education or sometimes for a fun &
informative trip to places like the Museum,
Planetarium or for an educative lesson
in the school.
