Transcending its duty of maintaining law and order, a police station in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city has been holding English tutorials for children from slum areas on its premises.

As part of a community policing programme, Pundalik Nagar police station has started English classes for children from nearby slums, for a period of 15 days, with the help of a teacher, an official told the media. It has been three days since the classes have begun and 14 children are attending the same, he said.

"Children are unable to attend schools due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and many don't have facilities to attend classes online. Considering the scenario, we decided to arrange for tutorials for English and mathematics," assistant police inspector Ghanshyam Sonawane said.

The classes were started for 14 middle school students, of which six had not even attended online classes during the lockdown, the official said. S P Jawalkar, the retired headmaster of a local school, volunteered to be part of the project and has been conducting the classes for free, he said.

Classes are being conducted in compliance with the COVID-19 safety protocol by maintaining social distancing, keeping masks and sanitisers handy, the official said. The classes are currently held for one and a half hours every day on the roof of the police station, he added.