Sheela Choure, a young tribal from Bihar's naxal-hit Jamui district, does not have a particular profession she wants to pursue in mind. However, the Class 12 student knows her immediate goals well: she wants to complete Bachelor of Arts (BA) and probably teach children in her village.
Travelling two hours one-way every day to reach her college, she understands only too well the need for more avenues to educate children in her village. After all, she is among the lucky few girls who were not married off early. When a peer suggested that she too will eventually tie the knot, she quickly retorted, “Not until I complete BA”
Sheela is in the city to participate in the ‘4th Tribal Youth Exchange Programme' organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS). Tribal youth from across the country are participating in the seven-day programme which is under way here.
Speaking about the perilous backdrop of Sheela's village, Annukumari Sinha, an NYKS volunteer in Jamui, said: “The Government has done its bit by opening schools there. But there is no follow-up on whether children are actually going to schools. The truth is that they are distracted by naxalites to join their movement.” The scene is similar in Orissa's Rayagada district. “There is no awareness among the tribal youth about what they are entitled to, which is why they don't claim to what is theirs. Transport is a big problem for those who study or work, as their houses are situated on hilltops,” explained M. Santosh Kumar, a native of Rayagada, who now works with an NGO there. Apart from the lack of educational facilities, self-employment schemes also appear to be failing to reach the beneficiaries, as migration is rampant among tribal youth.
