UP boy gets Rs 5L from CM, support from across India

NOIDA: Harendra Singh Chauhan will no longer have to sit on a footpath with a weighing scale to fund his education.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday handed a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the ninth standard student who spent his evenings outside Noida City Centre Metro station with the weighing scale and his notebooks.

Harendra was invited by the CM to Lucknow after a Facebook post drawing attention to his plight went viral. Offers of help also poured in from TOI readers from across the country in response to the front page article on the gritty teenager published in our September 27 edition.

Speaking to TOI, Harendra said he was happy the CM had called him. "I am grateful to the chief minister. However, I do not want any other help as now that my father has got a job, I am confident he will be able to support me and my family." On Saturday, Harendra had refused a cycle offered to him by Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate N P Singh.Akhilesh has also asked the Noida administration to keep an eye on Harendra's academic needs. "As and when required, we will pitch in with funds for his education so that he can achieve his goals," the DM said. "The money given by the CM will be kept in a fixed deposit account so that the interest generated from the amount can be utilized as a steady source of funds for Harendra's education," he added.

Harendra was felicitated for his resolve at an event held at the CM's residence as part of an initiative to reward those whose struggles had been highlighted in the social media. Noida resident Vikas Sharda had spotted Harendra sitting on the pavement outside the Metro station. Sharda's Facebook post on the boy, along with a photo clicked by him, went viral.

Offers to help Harendra also came from NGOs, business houses, entrepreneurs, politicians and people from across India moved by his story. "Can you please tell me where I can send the money?" wrote a TOI reader, one among many who similarly volunteered to help. Mahendra Agarwal of Indian Squash Professionals (a sports NGO) in Mumbai mailed to ask, "How can I help this boy? And whose name can I issue a cheque in?" Dilip Kadakia from Pune asked for his school details as he wanted to pay Harendra's fees. Another reader, A Ray, said, "I would like to help Harendra complete his studies". Sarin Quereshi of Kolkata said Harendra's grit had made him cry.

Before the CM stepped in, several others had offered help, including Ashray Gupta, president of Samajwadi Party's Noida Youth Brigade. He had also got Harendra to promise he would not sit outside the Metro station again. On Sunday, Gupta said he would stand by the boy to support his education. Many others saluted the warrior in Harendra and hoped he would reach his goal. That goal is to join the Army.