This stirring song from movie Jagriti has been urging children to preserve hard-won Independence for 56 years. It is still played on radio and TV on Independence and Republic Days.
However, 63 years after Independence, the rulers of the country have given children little means to fulfil that exhortation. Just 35 kms from Nagpur, a large number of children in several villages are dropping out of school owing to an extremely inefficient and inadequate bus service. This shows the hurdles in way of making education a true right. It also provies ample testimony that development is limited to cities. Education remains a distant dream in many such villages throughout country.
Ranjit Narnaware from the Digdoh village scored an impressive 80% in Standard Xth and 72% in Standard XII examinations. He too is one of the victims of poor bus service. He left studies in frustration and is now helping his parents in the farm.
Similarly, a fashion designing student in Wadi-based college Pradnya Borkar is missing lectures as the bus never reaches on time. It takes her one hour to reach her college in city.
Transportation is not the only the problem of this cluster of eight to ten villages located 5 to 20 kms off Nagpur-Amravati highway. Extreme poverty and lack of awareness about the education are making matters worse. They also face load-shedding for up to 12 hours everyday making studies virtually impossible.
"I cancelled admission of my daughter who was pursuing BBA from Modern College as bus services were highly irregular. She used to come back around 8 or 9 pm which worried us.Moreover, she used to miss two to three lectures daily as buses would be late," says Narendra Asole, a roadside vendor in Shiva village.
The aggrieved vendor blames poor transportation and the government apathy saying they could not take risk as their daughter was now grown up. There are many parents like him in these villages who forced their wards to cancel their admissions for similar problems.
"Many bright students from these villages cancelled admissions after a couple of months despite paying full fees.We found out that lack of proper transport facilities forced them to so so," said principal Prashant Tambe of Modern College, Wadi,which is about 15 km from farthest of these villages.
Teacher from same college Lala Kapse added that they had approached MSRTC and it promised to start new services provided they got at least 60 monthly passes. "We have accordingly arranged it from the college funds, but the new buses are yet to see light of the day," he added.
Agrees Ashok Raut, principal of Shiva Sawanga School, only one in this cluster of villages offering education up to junior college.
"Due to highly irregular bus service, we have to wait till 9 pm everyday to ensure that students, especially girls, reach their homes safely.. A couple of more buses are needed to be deployed on this route," he said. The school produced impressive results of 89.71% in the state board exams. Unfortunately, it is finding hard to prevent the students dropping out despite providing free education. Dr Ambedkar College student Prashant Ghate said he had taken a break of two years due to poor bus service.
"This year I again took admission hoping that situation might improve. But I have to miss three to four lectures everyday," he rues. All these children hail from extremely poor, mostly farming, families. Though they dream of education and a career just like their city counterparts, they know it may never be realised.
However, 63 years after Independence, the rulers of the country have given children little means to fulfil that exhortation. Just 35 kms from Nagpur, a large number of children in several villages are dropping out of school owing to an extremely inefficient and inadequate bus service. This shows the hurdles in way of making education a true right. It also provies ample testimony that development is limited to cities. Education remains a distant dream in many such villages throughout country.
Ranjit Narnaware from the Digdoh village scored an impressive 80% in Standard Xth and 72% in Standard XII examinations. He too is one of the victims of poor bus service. He left studies in frustration and is now helping his parents in the farm.
Similarly, a fashion designing student in Wadi-based college Pradnya Borkar is missing lectures as the bus never reaches on time. It takes her one hour to reach her college in city.
Transportation is not the only the problem of this cluster of eight to ten villages located 5 to 20 kms off Nagpur-Amravati highway. Extreme poverty and lack of awareness about the education are making matters worse. They also face load-shedding for up to 12 hours everyday making studies virtually impossible.
"I cancelled admission of my daughter who was pursuing BBA from Modern College as bus services were highly irregular. She used to come back around 8 or 9 pm which worried us.Moreover, she used to miss two to three lectures daily as buses would be late," says Narendra Asole, a roadside vendor in Shiva village.
The aggrieved vendor blames poor transportation and the government apathy saying they could not take risk as their daughter was now grown up. There are many parents like him in these villages who forced their wards to cancel their admissions for similar problems.
"Many bright students from these villages cancelled admissions after a couple of months despite paying full fees.We found out that lack of proper transport facilities forced them to so so," said principal Prashant Tambe of Modern College, Wadi,which is about 15 km from farthest of these villages.
Teacher from same college Lala Kapse added that they had approached MSRTC and it promised to start new services provided they got at least 60 monthly passes. "We have accordingly arranged it from the college funds, but the new buses are yet to see light of the day," he added.
Agrees Ashok Raut, principal of Shiva Sawanga School, only one in this cluster of villages offering education up to junior college.
"Due to highly irregular bus service, we have to wait till 9 pm everyday to ensure that students, especially girls, reach their homes safely.. A couple of more buses are needed to be deployed on this route," he said. The school produced impressive results of 89.71% in the state board exams. Unfortunately, it is finding hard to prevent the students dropping out despite providing free education. Dr Ambedkar College student Prashant Ghate said he had taken a break of two years due to poor bus service.
"This year I again took admission hoping that situation might improve. But I have to miss three to four lectures everyday," he rues. All these children hail from extremely poor, mostly farming, families. Though they dream of education and a career just like their city counterparts, they know it may never be realised.
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