Odisha Minister Calls For Urgent Steps To Empower Tribal Children Through Education

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Minister Nityananda Gond has directed the officials to take steps on a war-footing for empowering tribal children through education.

Chairing the two-day state-level conference of District Welfare Officers (DWOs) and PA-ITDAs at SC, ST Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, the Minister of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare, School and Mass Education and Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Gond called for urgent steps for infrastructure development of 450 hostels of residential schools and 100-seated hostels in areas not having hostels for ST and SC students.

He also directed execution of Parichiti Scheme at 99 schools across the state to create awareness about tribal students on their own art, culture and languages and provisioning of tutors for hostels under Anwesha scheme to facilitate English medium education among ST and SC students.

The minister called upon the DWOs to be alert and work dedicatedly for academic and intellectual development of the tribal children. Besides, he told them to ensure supply of mosquito nets to every child staying in a residential schools as malaria and dengue have started spreading. He emphasised prompt action on filling up the vacant posts of teachers, matrons, ANM and cook-cum-attendants in residential schools.

“For a Vikshit Odisha and a people-friendly government, as conceived by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, it is pertinent for all to have the willingness to work for the people’s requirements and demands,” he said.

The Minister also unveiled three books on tribal communities on the occasion. Those are “Lets Talk Safety”, a book on good and bad touch and awareness among the girl boarders on teenage pregnancies and other issues (guidelines for headmasters); “Tribal Cuisines of Odisha” on the rich culinary traditions of the tribal and PVTG communities of Odisha and “Documentation of Good Practices” of SCSTRTI.

The conference, moderated by Roopa Roshan Sahoo, secretary, ST and SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department, dealt with the amenities and entitlements in residential schools and hostels, HR issues relating to staffing pattern and the problems faced by the institutions, students’ admission, EMRS, ANWESHA, issues faced by boarders in hostels for girls and boys, utilization of funds, untoward incidents, their tracking and monitoring, coordination between ITDAs, government line departments and Central PSU who have taken the construction work for infrastructure development, district-level review meetings and gap analysis.