The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Bringing girl dropouts back to school
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
Reviving the interest of girl school dropouts in reading, writing and arithmetic is no mean task. But Mahila Shiksha Kendra residential schools have started making a difference in Uttarakhand.

Not far from a small village in Purola block in Uttarakashi district, the Mahila Shiksha Kendra residential schools are bustling with activity. Here, girls below 14 years are learning basics of mathematics.

From darkness to light

Select girls for the programme

Counsel parents about benefits of education

Conduct bridge course so that students can resume
regular education

Schools like these have begun to dot the landscape of Uttarakhand, spreading the light of education among disadvantaged girls.

These schools run by Mahila Samakhya have proved successful in reducing the school dropout rate among girls students. The schools are functioning at Kotdwar, Nainital (Bhawali), Nanakmata (Sitarganj), Champawat, Bhoradi (Tehri) and Purola (Uttarkashi).

The project being run under the Ministry of Human Resource Development began in 2005 mainly to provide education to girls who may have missed normal schooling for various reasons.

Under the scheme, girls get free education, stationery, food and have been allocated racks to keep articles of daily use. The schools have at least 32 students who are looked after by three teachers.

“In Uttarakhand, parents stop sending girls to schools and engage them in household work and agricultural activities. The girl child is forced to lend a helping hand at home and as a result, she starts missing classes. This becomes a regular feature and finally, the girl drops out.

“That’s why these learning centres that were earlier used to run adult literacy programmes for women were converted into residential schools for girls,” said Geeta Gairola, State Project Director, Mahila Samakhya.

Residential schools were introduced to create a conducive environment with minimum distractions so that girls could continue their education uninterrupted.

“The girls sail through routine adjustment problems over a period of time. Then, they live and learn in a disciplined environment,” said Geeta Gairola.

A total of 178 students are studying in these schools. As many as 69 girls are in class V and 99 students are currently in class VIII.

In 2005-08, 161 students cleared the class VIII examination and 185 girl students cleared class V examination.

Now, Samakhya is planning to start a residential school in Dehradun district. “Most probably, it will come up at Jhajra. The idea is to also involve Muslim girls in the programme.

So far, 32 girls, who hail from Mehuwala, Dhaki and Rampur villages, have been identified,” said Chandra, State Resource Person, Mahila Samakhya.

Reaching out to the girl child is one of the main components of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan that stresses on bringing changes not only in the education system but also in societal norms and attitudes.

Therefore, a two-pronged gender strategy has been adopted - to make the education system responsive to the needs of girls through targeted interventions which serve as a pull factor to enhance access and retention of girls in schools and, on the other hand, to generate a community demand for girls education through training and mobilisation.

“The targeted provision for girls under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan includes free textbooks to all girls up to class VIII, separate toilets for girls, back-to-school camps for out-of-school girls and bridge courses for older girls,” said Pushpa Manas, Director, State Education.

Under the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) programme, efforts are on to reach out to girls from marginalised social groups. A total of 25 schools are functioning in the state. Each district has at least one school.

To target pockets where girls education is lagging, the Government of India has launched the National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL).

The NPEGEL, launched in September 2003, is an integral but distinct component of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

It provides additional provisions for enhancing the education of underprivileged/disadvantaged girls at the elementary level through more intense community mobilisation.

The development of model schools in clusters, gender sensitisation of teachers, development of gender-sensitive learning material, early child care and education facilities and provision of need-based incentives like escorts, stationery, work books and uniforms etc. for girls. All educationally backward blocks have been included under NPEGEL.

“The identification of beneficiaries is done on the basis of central government census. For KGBV, the survey is carried out by primary teachers who visit the families and apprise the parents of the benefits of education. The programme began in 2001 in the state,” said Shailender Negi, district coordinator of SSA.

In Dehradun district, one KGBY school is functioning in Kalsi. First, children are identified and selected for the programme.

Then, counselling of parents is undertaken. This is the most difficult task as the parents’ mindset is such that they see little benefit in imparting education to the children who are contributing to running the houses.

“Our one-point agenda is be precise - convey the message in simple language so that they understand the importance of education and what it can do to their children. We travel to their ‘bastis’ (colonies) and speak to them,” said Negi.

Then, mainstreaming, the most important aspect of the programme, is launched. It involves conducting bridge course for the target group so that they gain enough proficiency that would help them in resuming the school curriculum with regular students.

It has been found that the girls have high intelligence quotient and practical knowledge which, if channelised properly, can yield good results.

“The curriculum lays emphasis on acquiring basic competency. Books in use are specially designed by the State Council for Research and Training (SCRT), District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) and State Project Office of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),”said Negi.

Maha Kumbh: Crocodile fear looms large
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 23
While on one hand the mela administration, in view of the Maha Kumbh, is building new ghats and renovating the existing ones along the Ganga so that pilgrims and devotees comfortably bathe in the holy river, on the other the recent reports of crocodiles being seen and caught at from the river in Haridwar district have put wrinkles on the forehead of the administration and the Forest Department and caused a scare among people coming to the city to take a dip in the river.

Sighting of crocodiles in Haridwar, Roorkee and Laksar areas has become common in the past few months. Venturing into river waters in these areas is being considered quite unsafe for people.

With lakhs likely to take dip during the Maha Kumbh, it has become a serious issue for the mela administration and the Forest Department to ensure an incident-free bathing of pilgrims.

Crocodiles had been spotted at Lal Tauro and Chandi Ghat bridges and Dhobhighat and Kali Mandir areas in the past few days.

Several unconfirmed reports are coming from various places about crocodiles being seen.

As a precautionary measure people residing near the river, especially slums and illegal colonies, have been warned of crocodiles and asked not to take a dip or swim in deep waters.

The Forest Department has formed teams to gauge, analyse and monitor crocodile movement and their hideouts.

With no specific data available about the number of crocodiles present in the river, this is being seen as a step that will help in getting the approximate number of crocodiles in the area.

A team has already conducted its survey in three areas where crocodiles had been spotted in the past few months, but it didn’t find any trace of the reptile.

Forest officials said the attempt was to know the place from where crocodiles were coming so that they could be stopped at that place only.

Meanwhile, the Rajaji National Park administration has sounded an alert in the park area close to the spots where crocodiles have been seen, specially in its Chilla and Shyampur ranges, which are close to the Chandi Ghat area.

DFO RD Pathak says there is no need to panic. He points out that crocodiles can’t stay in the Ganga due to its rapid flow.

“A crocodile caught was as huge as 5 feet of length and that’s why there is a possibility that it’s a single one. If a young one had been caught, then there could be a possibility of the presence of a breeding area. Our departmental team is investigating and surveying the whole area,” said Pathak.

Forest scientists support the logic of the DFO and point out that in fast downstream flow crocodiles don’t survive.

They attribute several canals that are linked with the Ganga as a viable reason of crocodiles straying into the river.

Till date, the two crocodiles caught are adult ones. Those were released in the Ganga-Rawasan confluence in Shyampur, away from the city and human settlements.

Forest officer Jagpal Singh says crocodiles are found in places like Bad Ganga, Tada, Bhogpur, Hathna, Lakshar and when the water level rises, these reptiles come on to roads in areas near rivers.

Meanwhile, the mela administration, on whom is the onus to conduct successfully the mega fair in 2010, has also taken a serious cognisance of the matter.

Mela officer Anand Vardhan has stated that if crocodiles are seen again, then a definite planning needs to be done along with the Forest Department to ensure safety of pilgrims during the four-month mega fair.

Till the final reports of the Forest Department about the crocodiles’ presence in the Ganga are released and there is no incident of crocodiles being spotted in the river in the next few weeks, crocodile fear will loom large in the area.

People in the areas where crocodiles had been spotted in Ganga are already apprehensive of bathing in the river, even near the ghats.

DTH services to cost more
Raju William
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
Subscription rates of Direct To Home (DTH) services in the state are likely to increase as the state government is mulling to impose entertainment tax on them. The proposal is meant to bring these services on a par with the tax levied on the cable TV segment as well as to generate new revenue sources.

But, the move is set to pinch a large number of subscribers. They will have to pay more to avail DTH services in the state as the operators could hike the rates to pass its burden on to them.

Deputy Commissioner, Entertainment Tax, SS Pokhriya confirmed the move but declined to provide more details at this stage. But, sources said the process of framing new rules was almost in the final stage.

Though the clear picture is expected to emerge within a month as by then new rules would be in place, the sources said the government might charge 20 per cent of what is being charged by the DTH operators from the subscribers. The cable TV operators, too, are being charged at the same rate.

The DTH operators, including prominent ones like Dish TV and Tata Sky, operating in the state have so far not been paying any tax to the government as they had challenged its decision in the Nainital High Court on the grounds that these services were not covered under the Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1979.

The move to bring these services in the ambit of entertainment tax started on the directions of the HC that upheld the plea of the DTH providers. The HC also directed the government to frame relevant rules to justify the imposition of the tax. Thereafter, the government made necessary amendment to the Act in March, 2009.