ITBP personnel turn educators while fighting Naxals in C'garh

In a novel effort, the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) deputed to combat Left Wing extremism has taken up the task of teaching school children at a Naxal-hit village in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district.

The children of the insurgency-hit Madanwada village in Rajnandgaon have got a new ray of hope with the initiative taken by the 'education cadres' of ITBP.

Madanwada, located around 120 kms from the district headquarters, was in news in 2009 when Rajnandgaon SP V K Choubey and 25 other policemen were killed in a Naxal attack.

Nearly six years after the brutal attack, the efforts of security personnel to fight the guns with pen have started bearing fruit and their initiative is being appreciated by the villagers.

"We are very happy that our children are getting good education and it will help in the development of our region," villager Maniram told PTI over phone.

The initiative was taken up about seven months back under the supervision of ITBP's Bhilai sector headquarter. Presently six personnel, including a SI-rank official, are teaching primary and middle classes of Madanwada government school, where nearly 63 students are enrolled.

"Our literacy project is aimed at educating each and every child of the region and our efforts have started bearing fruit," ITBP's Bhilai sector headquarter Commandant Ravi Kumar told PTI.

Sub-Inspector Ravindra Kumar, constables Anshul Tiwari, Narendra Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Sadanand Gupta and Ghanshyam Kumar of the education wing of the security force have been roped in for the task, he said.

The school has a headmaster and two assistant teachers, as per the official set up, who are rendering their services along with the ITBP personnel.

"Apart from primary and middle school students, our focus is on the students giving Class X state Board exams this year from the village. We are trying our best to help them prepare for the exams and pass them," Kumar said.

"Extending better educational facilities to deprived tribal children will help them in getting a dignified livelihood and it could also help them in finding jobs. We are getting a tremendous response from the parents," he said.

In the past few months, the efforts of ITBP personnel has received an overwhelming response as the school has recorded cent per cent attendance of students.

The security personnel usually visit the students' homes and persuade their parents to send them to school regularly. Despite their attempts, if students skip the classes, the jawans bring them to school, he said.

The security personnel also organise parents' meeting to interact with the villagers so as to seek their help and support for the cause, Kumar said.
Along with the regular syllabus, special focus is being given to improve the children's knowledge of mathematics and English, he added.