Mohuramukh: The Right to Education Act has brought cheers into the miserable lives of villagers living on the banks of the Brahmaputra in Assam’s Golaghat district who are under constant threat of flood and land erosion.
Education and economic empowerment are the latest buzzwords in the villages, courtesy the landmark law, dotting the south bank of the river and inhabited predominantly by Mishing tribals in the Bokakhat sub-division of the district.
An initiative has also been taken to set up thirty Sishu Manchas in the project area where the children are being taught extra-curricular activities like drawing, singing, games and sports, extempore speech, quiz, etc on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The children are also taken on exposure trips to give them practical education and widen their outlook.
Besides education, several activities have been undertaken to create awareness in the community on health and hygiene, women empowerment and the rights and responsibilities of the citizens.
“As the project area is highly disaster prone, we have also trained youths in five groups of 20 each in activities related to disaster preparedness with the help of civil defence and district disaster cell,” officials said.
Local residents, particularly women, are very enthusiastic about the project. “My siblings and I was forced to leave school as my parents could not afford it. We had to help them by working as daily wage labourers, but I want my children to complete their education and lead a better life,” said 38-year-old Sangeeta Luing.
The path to education, however, is not very easy as communication to schools during floods is a major problem.
“Our children have to go to school by boats during the flood, but enough of these are not available and they have to wade through water to reach their destinations,” said another mother Nirupama Payeng.
This also affects their health and their attendance becomes irregular, she added.
The district administration has assured the villagers that their problems would be looked into and all possible measures taken to see their education was not affected. (PTI)