Villagers are opposing the move of the district administration to shift ashrams and schools running in remote villages to district and block headquarters alleging that this will deny education to their children. They also threatened to boycott Assembly election if shifting of schools is not stopped.
Hundreds of villagers of Gumiapal, Samalwar, Hiroli, Mandri, Kilepal and other villages of Kuankonda block of Dantewada district on Friday took out a rally under the leadership of Sarpanchs of these villages shouting slogans Jila Prashasan Murdabad’ and ‘Bring back the school and Ashrams’. The sarpanchs alleged that they would not allow the administration to take village school and ashrams to district and block headquarters.
According to sarpanchs, many petitions have been submitted to the district administration conveying them that their children want to study in village school and ashrams, even after that the administration ordered shifting of village school and Ashrams to district headquarters. If these schools are shifted there not only kids will be denied the opportunity to get education but the development of these villages would also be stalled.
Accusing the Government of not paying proper attention to education, sarpanchs of these villages threatened to boycott the ensuing Assembly election if shifting of village schools and ashrams is not stopped. They alleged that some of the schools and ashrams are already run at Palnar and Kuankonda after closing a number of village schools due to which large number of children stopped going school at block level demanding that their school should be opened at village itself. The recent bid of the State Government to shift schools and ashrams to urban centres will further deny education to these kids also, the villagers alleged.