Welfare, Women & Child Development Minister louis Marandi has said that she was working on improving around 132 residential schools run by the Welfare department on the pattern of Navodaya Vidyalayas run by the Centre.
louis, 49, said that the government is also in talks with KIIT University, well-known education brand from Odisha, to run the residential schools under PPP model so that the quality of education in these schools could be improved.
Notably, Achyuta Samanta, founder of KIIT University, had called upon Chief Minister Raghubar Das recently and was keen on setting up an institute of social sciences in the State capital.
louis, who holds a PhD from Ranchi University, said that the matriculation results in these welfare schools have not been ‘very poor’ this year. “We have a SC residential school at lerua in Madhupur (Deoghar), which has registered 100 percent result this year.
“We can provide such quality education in all our schools,” she told The Pioneer in an interview.
louis said that the students are not at fault for the poor results in the residential schools. “We don’t have the requisite infrastructure, particularly teachers, in these schools,” she pointed out.
According to 2011 Census, literacy rate among tribals is pegged at 57.13 compared to 66.41 among the general population.
“Sometimes, the welfare department-run residential schools have done better as compared to the schools of the human resource development department in the Class X examination,” she pointed out.
“So, we have written to all the deputy commissioners to appoint teachers on contractual basis within a fortnight so that every school has subject-wise teachers,” she said.
louis, who had emerged as a giant killer defeating the then Chief Minister Hemant Soren in Dumka, regarded as one of the prestigious seats in Jharkhand, said that she will leave no stone unturned to improve the quality of medicare and education in Santhal Pargana.
“She has a dream of having a state of art hospital in Dumka. The State Government had roped in Tata Steel to run the Sadar hospital in Dumka, but it is yet to take off,” she pointed out.
She said that JMM chief Shibu Soren and his heir Hemant Soren did not feel the pains of Santhalis. “And that was the reason people taught them a lesson in the last elections,” she added.
louis, the lone Christian member in the saffron club in the State, said that the BJP never let her down. “I began my political career with the BJP, so the only sanskar which I imbibed was that of the BJP. It is like my extended family,” the minister, formerly a national secretary of the BJP, said.
Dumka has a strong presence of Christian missionaries, although the Sangh Parivar has been working hard to make inroads.
The Welfare Minister said that she was also working on improving the quality of health care in nine Meso hospitals, including RINCHI hospital situated at outskirt of the State Capital.
The Minister was, however, cautious while reacting to the Government move to amend the CNT Act, removing the restriction of the boundary of a police station in the purchase/sale of tribal land in view of the protests from some quarters, including Minister CP Singh.
“The Tribal Advisory Council has constituted a committee for this and the decision will depend on the recommendations of the panel, headed by former home secretary J B Tubid,” she signed off.