By Mohammad Shoaib Khan

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS): Sujeet Chattopadhyay, a retired teacher from West Bengal who is teaching around 300 students only for Rs 2, was conferred with the Padma Shri award by President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.

After his retirement, Chattopadhyay (78), a resident of Burdwan district, has been teaching poor children. He teaches students of Class X, XI and degree college students.

Talking to IANS, Chattopadhyay said that it is a matter of pride for him to be honoured by the President.

"I have got the message conveyed to my students that our school has been awarded. I am a teacher and a teacher's duty does not end even after retirement. That's why I teach poor children of my area," he said.

"My students are proud of me and they have also sent a message for the President which needs to be conveyed to him," Chattopadhyay said.

The students have demanded a degree college and a branch of SBI in the Ramnagar Gram panchayat, he said.

Explaining further, Chattopadhyay said that the students have to travel 30 km for banking transactions. He said that he had made the same demand with the state administration, but in vain.

Besides providing education, he also buys clothes and other essentials for the poor students.

Chattopadhyay also looks after Thalassemic patients. He, along with his students, organises a camp for such patients and try to help them financially too.