Right to Education? Govt closes down Rann Shala schools in Gujarat's Santalpur area because of "lack of funds"

By Pankti Jog*

This week the Gujarat government may claim to be celebrating the quality education monitoring programme called Gunotsav across the state. However, ironically, this has coincided with government-sponsored schools, called Rann Shalas, of Santalpur area in the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK), being shut down. Reason: They don't have any sanction for running the schools.

The Rann Shala programme was started under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for the children of traditional salt farmers of LRK. Under the programme, children would be taught in tent schools at workplace. For past many years more than 300 children in the Santalpur area of LRK in Patan district continued their education post-September, once their parents migrated to LRK for farming salt. However, SSA faced a major hurdle: It wasn't not given adequate budget to run these schools, thus leaving children deprived of midday meal and full time teacher.
The Agariya Heet Rakshak Manch (AHRM), Gujarat's well-known NGO which works among saltpan workers, supported by State Bank of India (SBI), allotted tents this year, realising the fund constraint of SSA, a Central government programme, for having safe tents.
However, the government surprisingly did not sanction any funds to the Rann Shalas. Even earlier, the sanction would be given for two months, which would be extended following repeated complaints.

“Our schools have been closed down for the last one-and-a-half months. The only reason is that children were denied midday meal or even snacks this year. This resulted into heavy dropout of children. We closed it down after February 15", said a community teacher, identified as baldost, or friend of children, in the Santalppur Rann.
When inquired with Cluster and Block Resource Co-ordinators (CRCs and BRCs), they seemed to be least concerned about what is happening with the Rann Shalas. “We have our visit report complete. As we did not have permission to run tent schools after March 31, we closed them down. Children should come to their native villages on their own if they want to give examinations”, an official replied casually.
"When the salt season is not yet over, how could they close down the school by giving administrative reasons? This is the most insensitive act of the government. With no teacher, no midday meal, and now no school, we would like to invite the Gunotsav team to visit the Rann in Santalpur and access children's learning quality/ability", said an AHRM representative, adding, "AHRM has been persuading this issue since long, but the government every time comes up with some adhoc planning and budget..."
Under the SSA programme, according to AHRM activists, officials shed their responsibility by saying that the state neither gives them permission for full term from September to April, nor does it give sufficient budget to have midday meal or even breakfast, water facility, sports kits etc.
The basic question being posed is: Who is responsible for giving full time school to the Rann's children as required by the Right to Education (RTE)?
"This is a violation of the fundamental right of children, and also violation of the Supreme Court order, leading to contempt of the apex court, wherein the Gujarat government had assured that it would provide education to the children in the desert,” says Harinesh Pandya, an AHRM trustee.
“We need to have comprehensive planning for education in the Rann. Rann Shalas need to be considered as extension of village schools. Teachers need to be allocated from peripheral villages, and midday meal needs to be arranged for these schools, as per RTE, and thr National Food Security Act", he said.
"While Surendrangar and Morbi district programme education officers (DPEOs) can run desert schools till examinations, how could thr Patan DPEO cloose it down just ahead of examinations, leaving children deprived of their right to education?", he added.
Agariyas or saltpan workers are known to be migrating to LRK even before Independence. The book “Salt of the Earth” by Kapilram Vakil, as also several other documents, show that there were desert schools before Independence. Yet, 71 years later, the government of the day has shown its incapability of running fulltime desert schools.
Meanwhile, complaints have been lodged with BRC, CRC and DEPO, with the hope that the government hears Agariyas' voice amidst celebration of “Gunotsav”.
---
*With Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, Ahmedabad

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Counterview

Search This Blog