Maharashtra govt plans education hubs for Naxal areas

The Maharashtra government is planning to start KG to PG educational hubs for tribal students in areas affected by Naxalite violence.

The Maharashtra government is planning to start KG to PG educational hubs for tribal students in areas affected by Naxalite violence. To be started on a pilot basis in Gadchiroli and Gondia districts of Vidarbha,the residential schools,which are aimed at letting tribal communities enter the mainstream,will impart education to students from kindergarten to postgraduate level.

These facilities will aim at increasing the standard of living of the tribals…through quality education, Tribal Development Minister Babanrao Pachpute told The Indian Express. The spread of education is a means of combating Naxalism, he added.

Pachpute said similar institutions had been started in Orissa and added that he had met union Tribal Affairs Minister K C Deo to secure Central funding.

After starting these educational hubs in Gadchiroli and Gondia,Pachpute said,the government planned to extend the scheme to the districts of Chandrapur,Bhandara and Nandurbar,eventually covering the 16 districts which have a significant tribal population. The schools are planned to be based at the district headquarters or large towns to ensure good infrastructure.

Pachpute said the institutions would have a large campus spread over a minimum of 100 acres and have modern educational,residential,extra curricular and sports facilities. Each hub would house around 10,000 to 15,000 students,claimed Pachpute,adding that they would also admit around 10 to 20 per cent students from non-tribal communities to ensure cross cultural interaction.