Malto Schools

02 | H I N D U STA N T I M E S , R A N C H IS AT U R DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 1

quotemartialWe have decided to initiate a campaign to draw the attention of the adivasis and moolbasis to identify those leaders and parties who didnothing for their interests in last 11 years. S A L K H A N M U R M U , chairman, JDP( )

Anbwesh Roy Choudhury■ anbwesh.choudhury@hindustantimes.com

GODDA: Every night Bamna Paharia, aClass 10 student of the Dhamni prim-itive tribal residential school in Goddadistrict, around 370 km north ofRanchi, lights a kerosene lamp in aroom that he shares with 15 other stu-dents and studies for his board exam-inations.

The 14-year-old has always wantedto become a doctor. But with the gov-ernment failing to provide electricityto his school and other buildings inits vicinity, he has to make do withkerosene lamps.

Sitting at his table, Bamna tellsHindustan Times that he had left hisvillage in the 1,500-feet high Senha-Tambligodda mountain ranges to pur-sue his dream of becoming the firstdoctor of his village.

But he is now pessimistic. “We havemanaged to adjust. Lamps do strainthe eyes but they are our only option.”

The 600 Paharia students in thethree residential schools at Dhamni,Badadanga Pada and Rampur villagesin the district have to use kerosenelamps even during the day. For, thoughthe government had provided the

schools with solar panels and batter-ies, thieves have ripped off the pan-els and the batteries need to bereplaced.

The model residential schools forthe Paharias were supposed to pro-vide a major fillip to the education ofthe primitive tribal groups (PTG) butthey lack basic infrastructure.

“Staying with 15 other students ina room is difficult but my house issmaller so I have adjusted,” saysDhanda Paharia who will completeClass 5 this year.

Both Dhanda and Bamna arePaharias (hill tribe), one of the eightprimitive tribes, which forms a smallportion of the state’s tribal popula-tion. According to the 2001 census,the Paharia population in Godda is

13,169 while that in Jharkhand-Biharis 1.6 lakh. primitive tribal groups form0.82% of the state's population andtheir literacy rate is 16% against thestate's 54%.

Frustrated with the dilapidatedstate of the Dhamni residential school,headmaster Ramvilas Singh had writ-ten to the government several timesasking it to make provisions for elec-tricity but adds that he was 'ignored'.

“I was posted here in 2006 and sincethen the 300 residential and 200 dayschool students have been studyingsans electricity. Solar panels have been

stolen. Officials have come here sev-eral times and made a lot of promis-es. But in the last five years the pan-els have not been put up nor have thebatteries been changed,” saidRamvilas Singh.

The school runs on a monthly 100-litre quota of kerosene oil against therequirement of 300 litre.

It has just 13 teachers for 500 stu-dents and its computer lab is filledwith cobwebs as the government hasfailed to provide diesel for its gener-ator.

Brajesh Kumar Singh, the school'smathematics teacher, said, “Class 10students who are going to sit for theirboard exams are given a lamp eachwhile students from Class 1 to 9 haveto share a lamp with six students.”

Pointing at an under-constructionbuilding, Singh says, “When the schoolis upgraded to Class 12, where do youthink the students would stay? Onlythe storeroom is empty. The classrooms become bedrooms at night.”

The only thing that the students atDhamni brag about is the food.

The students of the BadadangaPada residential school, however, donot even have that luxury.

As in the case of Dhamni residen-tial school, the solar panels are miss-ing since 2007 and students here arealso using kerosene lamps.

“The scenario here is pretty bad.The deputy commissioner along withhis officers comes here often butthings have not improved. It was bet-ter during undivided Bihar,” saidheadmaster of Badadanga Pada res-idential school, Mahesh Singh.

He added that there were just threeteachers and the kitchen is in a sham-bles.

Godda's deputy development com-missioner Devendra Bushan Singhsaid, “The situation in these schoolsis really bad. I have submitted myreports on stolen solar panels andredundant batteries to the deputycommissioner (DC) and to the districtsocial and welfare department. Thereis an inspection on Saturday and I willpersonally look into it.”

Though the state had allotted R140lakh for the maintenance of its resi-dential schools this fiscal under thetribal sub-plan for primitive tribalgroups, a reality check shows that thegovernment is yet to utilise these funds properly.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) GoddaK Ravi Kumar said, “We will completework under the Rajiv Gandhi GramVidyutikaran Yojana by January. Theadministration is monitoring theprogress of this project.

LET THERE BE LIGHT,SAY TRIBAL STUDENTSSORRY STATE Students in three residential schools in Godda have to use kerosenelamps even during the day; solar lamps provided by the government have been stolen

Schemes Allotment in Lakhs. ■ Opening & Maintenance of Ashram/Eklavya School R140.00

■ Grant for NGO running of PTG School R120.00

■ Mid Day Meal for Paharia School R50.00

■ Special Health Scheme for PTGs R40.00

■ Vocational Education for PTGs R50.00

■ LACK OF ELECTRICITY

■ LOW STUDENT TO TEACHER RATIO

■ INADEQUATE HOSTEL ROOMS

■ LOW QUALITY FOOD

■ UNFILTERED DRINKING WATER

PROBLEMS

■ Mal Paharia

■ SauriyaPaharia

■ Paharia

■ Asur

■ Birhor

■ Birajiya

■ Savar

■ Hill Kharia

■ Korwa

■ Population- 0.82% of the statespopulation

■ Literacy Rate- 16% (PTG)54% (Jharkhand)

PRIMITIVE TRIBAL GROUPS

DATA CHART

■ The Bada Danga Pada primitive tribal residential school. HT PHOTO

■ Bamna Paharia, a Class 10 student, studies under a kerosene lamp at the Dhamni primitivetribal residential school in Godda district. HT PHOTO

■ Shivlal Paharia, caretaker of the Bada Danga Pada primitive tribal residentialschool shows the damaged solar panels. HT PHOTO

COURT SEEKS CBI’S REPLY INFORMER TOWNPLANNER’S CASE

SAINIK SCHOOLRAGGING: NHRCISSUES NOTICETO CHIEF SECY

Tribals continue fast, govt unfazed

ranchi

■ Staff of Hotel Radisson Blu celebrate Blue Day in Ranchi onFriday. Celebrating the launch of the Radisson Blu chain ofHotels in Asia Pacific, the hotel rolled out numerous CSR schemes to mark the day. PARWAZ KHAN/HT PHOTO

photooftheday

16-YEAR-OLD BOY COMMITS SUICIDERANCHI: A 16-year-old boy committed suicide at his hostel room atHulundu under Tupudana police station in Ranchi district. Thedeceased has been identified as Saurav Kumar, a resident of Godda.Kumar was pursuing diploma in engineering from Centre forBioinformatic College, Hulundu. According to police, Kumar did notattend his classes on Friday morning. His room partner, ArjunMahato, repeatedly knocked the door, failing to get any response heinformed the hostel warden, Tupudana police said. The hostel war-den along with other students broke open the door and shockinglyfound Saurav's body hanging from the ceiling. HTC

RDCIS and SAIL observe quality dayRANCHI: The quality day was celebrated on Friday in Research andDevelopment Centre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS) and SAIL SafetyOrganisation of Steel Authority of India Limited, Ranchi. Quality Dayis celebrated every year all over the world to increase awareness ofthe important contributions that quality makes toward an organisa-tion's growth and prosperity. HTC

1,217 candidates selected for sub-inspector post RANCHI: Two days after Union home minister P Chidambramasked to fill the vacant seats in the police department,Director General of Police GS Rath released the names of1,217 shortlisted candidates for the post of sub-inspectors ata press meet on Friday. The department had conducted awritten examination in December 2010 to fill the require-ment of sub-inspectors. HTC

Four PLFI members arrested, arms recoveredRANCHI: Police have arrested four people alleged to be mem-bers of People Liberation Front of India (PLFI) and recov-ered arms and ammunition, informed SK Singh, seniorsuperintendent of police, Ranchi. The four arrested havebeen identified as Manoj Mahto, Harish Chandra Pahan,Kaleshwar Pahan and Mohan Ram. HTC

shortstories

HT Correspondent■ jam.live@hindustantimes.com

RANCHI: The government con-tinues to be apathetic towardsthe group of people belongingto the primitive tribal groups(PTG), who are on fast at theMorhabadi grounds for the lastfive days. These people have alsothreatened to give up their livesif required.

The protesting groups beforethe Mahatma Gandhi statuteMorhabadi ground is here sinceMonday and do not even havea new list of demands.

The PTG tribals sitting inprotest are from nine tribes ofKorhwa, Parhaiya, Brijiya,Asoor, Birhor, Pahariya,Malpahariya, Sindriya Pahariyaand Sanwar. The PTG, utterly

neglected, are supposed to beunder special protection due totheir dwindling population and

the national advisory council(NAC) has made a number ofrecommendations for their pro-tection.

“We simply want the gov-ernment to give us what theypromised as we have been wait-ing for many years. When ArjunMunda was the welfare minis-ter (in 2002) he promised thatall PTG people who have passedClass 8 and above would getclass 4 government jobs. In2009, it was approved. We sub-mitted our applications for thejobs but are still jobless,” sadNanheshwar Korhwa of Garhwadistrict.

“This year the elephants haveruined our corn and rice cropspushing us into extreme condi-tions and we will sit here till thegovernment does something. If

necessary, we are ready to die,as we have nothing to losemore,” said Korhwa.

Their requests for imple-mentation of the special publicemployment scheme for PTGshave been stonewalled.Meetings with tribal welfareminister Champai Soren havebrought no results. The tribalwelfare commissioner RajivArun Ekka keeps assuring themof action but there has been notangible result till date.

Gitasri Oraon, CongressMLA, told Hindustan Times,“The district administration hasalso been equally apathetic totheir plight. They sat before theRaj Bhavan on Monday, follow-ing which they were shifted fromthere and now they are sittinghere.”

■ 2002- Munda makes proposal■ 3/9/2009-Approved by guv■ 31/10/2009-Approved byCabinet for notification■ 11/01/2011— 391 PTG peoplefrom Garhwa apply■ 12/04/2010— DC, Garhwa,asks welfare department forinstructions on implementation■ 04/03/2011 - Reminder sentto secretary of welfare dept■ 18/5/2011 - DC Garhwa repliessaying tribal welfare departmentstill not replied

STORY SO FAR

Sanjoy Dey■ sanjoy.dey@hindustantimes.com

RANCHI: Prepaid auto-rickshaw isa rare view at Ranchi railway sta-tion not only at night but also dur-ing day. Despite outsourcing ofthe prepaid auto service about amonth back, commuters have gotno relief. Weak policing, arbitraryattitude of auto drivers and scuf-fle between two auto owners’associations have brought ambi-tious plan of the district admin-istration to a naught.

The prepaid auto service wasinaugurated on IndependenceDay this year on demand of theRanchi-ites who often face prob-lems to reach their destinationat night. For smooth running ofthe scheme, the administrationhad issued 146 permits.

However, the reality is that only

25 to 30 prepaid auto-rickshawsare seen on station premises inan entire day. Rest of the permitholding auto-rickshaws ply onother routes of the city to makequick bucks.

“We are running in loss, as only25 to 30 out of 146 permit hold-ing autos are found in service hereat the station. We get R5 for everyauto-rickshaw booked by a pas-senger,” said Anup Sinha, whogot the tender from districtadministration to run the serv-ice. Sinha will have to pay R1.56lakh to the administration in ayear for running the service.

“In absence of autos, we areable to send only 50-60 passen-gers out of over 100 through pre-paid service in a day,” Sinha said.He said their daily expense isaround R400 while income ismere R250 to R300 per day. Whensome of the auto drivers werequeried on this, they argued thatpetrol auto rickshaws dominateat station areas and they do notwant diesel auto to enter thepremises. Besides, non-permit

holding auto-rickshaws pick upthe passengers from the stationpremises.

“Some muscle men are illegallyset up an association to protectthe interest of petrol auto own-ers and prevent the permit hold-ing diesel auto to enter at the sta-tion. We have protested againstthe fake association but districtadministration is yet to takeaction on them,” said Dinesh Soni,founder president of JharkhandPradesh Diesel Auto ChalakMahasangh.

Deputy commissioner (DC)KK Soan said the administrationhad decided to cancel the per-mits of those prepaid auto rick-shaws that did not ply from thestation. “We are also planning toissue over 300 fresh permits forprepaid autos in the state capi-tal,” Soan said.

Prepaid autos rare at rly station

■ Non-permitted auto rickshawstand near Ranchi railway station. DINESH SHUKLA

HT Correspondent■ jam.live@hindustantimes.com

RANCHI: The Jharkhand highcourt on Friday sought the CBI’sreply in response to a petitionfiled by the former town plan-ner of the Ranchi RegionalDevelopment Authority(RRDA), Ram Kumar Singh,who challenged the criminalproceeding initiated against him.

Singh is under CBI lens,which is probing the nexusbetween the builders and theRRDA officials resulting in ille-gal construction of several multi-storied buildings and apart-ments circumventing buildingby laws. The investigatingagency had also arrested Singhin this connection. Singh is nowon bail.

The bench of justice PoonamSrivastava sought the CBI’sreply by November 25, the nextdate of hearing.

Singh has challenged theorder of October 25 passed bythe court of special judge (CBI),which had taken cognisance ofcriminal offences allegedly com-mitted by him.

He submitted that he beingthe then town planner had norole in sanctioning buildingmaps.

He said that the physical ver-ification of buildings was doneby a different set of officers andhe used to recommend theirreports.

He claimed that he was notat all responsible for the ille-gality committed in construc-tion of multi-storied buildings.

Ushinor Majumdar■ Ushinor.Majumdar@hindustantimes.com

RANCHI: The Jharkhand HumanRights Movement (JHRM) hasonce again made the NationalHuman Rights Commission(NHRC) sit up and take notice ata time when a school and a statehave failed to do their job in pro-tecting a student.

The NHRC has issued a noticeto the state chief secretary ask-ing for a report within a monthon a ragging incident thatoccurred at Sainik School inJhumri Tiliya, Koderma. It hasalso asked the state to start aninquiry into what happened to 14-year-old Shankar Xalxo.

The National Commission forProtection of Child Rights(NCPCR) has also started aninvestigation into the matter.

Gladson Dungdung, the headof JHRM, said, “It is terrible thatthe highest bodies for the pro-tection of human rights (theNHRC) and child rights (theNCPCR) have had to intervenein the matter.” Ragging is a seri-ous offence and a violation ofhuman rights as per Indian law.Many deaths, including suicides,have been reported followingsevere ragging, which has led tolegislation and the authoritiesclamping down on the menace.After the recent string of suicidesin Ranchi last week, such inci-dents can be a cause of seriousconcern for the authorities.Shankar, a Class 8 student ofSainik School, was unwilling toreturn to school on November 7when it reopened after vacation.