Banda village in Nitish Kumar's hometown, Barh, has not gone to
school for 30 years.
Seventy-year-old Sukho Mahto, a matriculate, is the only educated
person in Banda, a village of 900 just 3 km from Barh, where successive
governments have not been able to build a school. No wonder then
that only 20 of the 350 and odd adults know how to sign.
Mahto was lucky as he finished schooling before Banda was carved
out in Patna district in the mid-seventies. But his grandchildren
aren't.
Of the over 500 children, only five can count up to 50 in Hindi.
Bajrang Mahto, 13, is somewhat of a superman as he can count up
to 100 and knows how to write English and Hindi alphabets, thanks
to the tuition he took sometime ago.
Vipul Kumar, 12, is another toast of the village with his "special"
knowledge of reverse counting in Hindi. As he starts, " sou
saiya ninyanve, athyanve satyanve…", all children clap
in awe and some elders blush.
For the children of lesser gods at Banda, school is an alien concept.
Children's pastimes range from playing cards to gilli danda, fishing,
going to the field with cows and taking umpteen jumps into the Ganga.
Some children have even perfected the art of rubbing tobacco, much
to their parents' delight.
The children are not allowed by their parents to take boats to go
to schools in Barh.
Two years ago, villagers engaged a private teacher and gave him
a monthly fee of Rs 20 for each student. The 70-year-old teacher
died three months ago.
It is not that the children are not keen to learn. Dhanvir, 12,
said in a feeble voice: " Main bhi padhna chahta hoon (I, too,
want to study)." He was speaking for most of his friends.
But villagers, who make a living by selling vegetables and milk
and working as daily wage labourers, insist the government must
"cross the river" to get their children educated. "We
have no money to send our children to private schools. We cannot
risk our children's lives by making them take boats to reach school,"
said Bodhan Mahto.
What is even more galling for them is that most diara (island area
in Ganga) villages have schools.
The Danapur diara, for example, has a pucca school. But Banda has
never figured on the government's plans. Saraswati Devi, the eldest
villager, said: " Koi neta nahin aaya aaj tak, yahan to koi
vote bhi mangne nahin aata (No leader has ever visited the village,
not even to ask for votes)."
The villagers recently met Barh subdivisional magistrate Vandana
Preyasi to press their demand for a school. The village head, Mira
Yadav, who has just been elected, said: "I have taken up their
cause with the administration."
Her representative, Ajit Kumar, who makes the rounds of villages
under Ibrahimpur panchayat, said he too met the magistrate several
times but with no result.
Block education
officer Renu Devi said: "I did not know about the villagers'
plight." Asked if it was not an irony that she was ignorant about
the plight of a village which is only 3 km from her office, she said:
"Now that you have brought it to my notice, I will send a detailed
proposal to the district education officer."
Preyasi could not explain why the district administration had failed
to provide education to the entire village for years. "I have
learnt about it and will discuss it with my seniors," was her
cryptic reply.
(Courtesy The Telegraph)
