Umbha children stop going to school located in village of accused in Sonbhadra
Yagya Dutt is among the 28 people named in the FIR in connection with the incident. Murtiya village is the only option for these schoolchildren as Umbha has no upper primary school.
Children in Sonbhadra district’s Umbha village, where 10 people were killed and 28 injured in a shooting over a land dispute on July 17, are still reluctant to go to the only school in the area as it is located in the adjoining village of Murtiya, the home of the prime accused Yagya Dutt.
Yagya Dutt is among the 28 people named in the FIR in connection with the incident. Murtiya village is the only option for these schoolchildren as Umbha has no upper primary school.
Ram Pati Gond, resident of Umbha, said, “Murtiya is the village of Yagya Dutt, the panchayat pradhan (village head) who is the main accused in the massacre. This is the reason some children and parents are worried.”
The education department has been busy trying to convince the children as well as villagers to overcome their fears and it claims to have brought about somewhat of an improvement in the situation.
“But some children are still not keen to go to the Murtiya school,” said Vijay Kumar, another Umbha resident. He added the children alleged harassment by some residents of Murtiya.
An education department official, who refused to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said, “Attendance declined sharply soon after the incident. It is improving gradually.” There were 62 children enrolled in Murtiya school and the attendance was just over 50%, he added.
Basic shiksha adhikari Gorakh Nath Patel said, “Efforts are on to enhance enrolment. We visited Umbha village on Thursday to convince villagers to send all children to school.”
He added, “I am sure all the children will rejoin the school soon.”
Asked about low attendance, he said, “Things are better now.”
UP CHILD RIGHTS PANEL SEEKS DM’S INTERVENTION
The Uttar Pradesh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (UPPCR) has issued a notice to the Sonbhadra district magistrate to intervene in this matter.
The commission’s chairperson Vishesh Gupta said, “Children are going through a tough time. If something is deterring them from education, the district administration should intervene. We have asked the DM to look into the matter and send a report to the commission.”
GOVERNMENT TO SET UP TWO SCHOOLS
The Uttar Pradesh government has approved setting up of two residential schools for children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Sonbhadra district.
One of the residential schools would be set up for girls, while the other would be for boys, said an official. The girls’ school would be constructed at Murtiya village in Ghorawal, Pargana Barhar; and the boys’ school would come up in Pargana Searia of Robertsganj.
Earlier, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had accepted the locals’ demand and announced these schools would be set up.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday had shunted out the district magistrate and superintendent of police of Sonbhadra, besides ordering action against 13 other officials after they were indicted in an inquiry into the killing of 10 Gond tribals last month over the land dispute.
