Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has launched a novel initiative under which school children in remote and inaccessible areas will not only be provided transport facilities, one of the village elders will also accompany them all the way to the schools for their safety and security.
The initiative has been launched from the Khurda district, even as the government is preparing a blueprint to extend the scheme across all the districts.
According to figures shared by the State Government for Khurda district, 200 primary and upper primary school students have been covered under this initiative so far. They include 92 girl students. In all 14 habitations in the district have been covered.
Of the total number of children covered, 86 are from SC category, 43 from ST and 27 are from the Muslim community.
As per reports, the village elder accompanying the children will be provided with a monthly remuneration of Rs 2500 and food. A widow can also be engaged as an escort for the students.
Reports said 4031 students in remote areas will be covered in the initial phase. About 350 escorts have already been engaged and more will be hired soon.
A village-level committee will maintain a list of the children travelling to schools with escorts. While one escort will be provided to children to schools within one km, two village elders will accompany the children to schools beyond two and a half km.
Comments are closed.