Chhattisgarh: Narayanpur gets free residential coaching centre for tribal students

In an attempt to help and groom the tribal students of Maoist-affected Abujhmad forest, the Chhattisgarh government has started free coaching classes in the Narayanpur district for students aspiring to become doctors and engineers. The Abujhmad region is huge and the Maoists have a stronghold over it.

Narayanpur administration, with the help of the state government and local teachers in the district and has started coaching institute ‘Pariyana’ (a Gondi word which means – to fly) for classes 10th 11th and 12th.

Abujhmad forest is straddled between Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. It is popularly known as the ‘unknown hill’ as the 6,000 sq km of thick forest has not been surveyed since the British era. Narayanpur district administration tried to conduct a survey in 2017 and 2020, but it has not yet been completed.

The jungle is the epicentre of Maoist activities and about a dozen senior cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) are said to be still camping there. It has around 250 villages in the Abujhmad region which is home to about 50,000 people.

“Most of the students of this area do not want to go to cities like Raipur or Kota hence we started this (Pariyana) coaching institute in June. The aim is to help the students in Abujhmad forest so that they can come into the mainstream,” said Ajit Vasant, Naryanpur district collector.

He added that said chief minister Bhupesh Baghel had launched the Swami Atmanand English Medium School Scheme in November 2020 with an aim to providing a platform to bright students from economically weaker sections of the tribal-dominated areas, which has played an important role in creating awareness among the students of this region.

“The scheme has inspired the tribal students, who had lost all hopes of coming to the mainstream due to Maoism. The district administration of the Naxal-affected area has extended a helping hand to these students by providing coaching facilities, encouraging them to make their future in the field of medicine and engineering and achieve their goals in life,” Vasant said.

He further said that the toppers of the district are getting free-of-cost coaching now at the residential centre in the Narayanpur education hub.

“The District Mineral Trust Institute and School Education Department have arranged for these children to get engineering and medical education coaching. The students are provided with coaching from the teachers of the best coaching institutes in the country,” the district collector added.

He said that the students are also very appreciative of the initiative taken by the state government and district administration, they are happy with the facilities with can help them build a better future.

“It is a good initiative and it will help us in excelling in the competitive exams. The coaching centre has a good atmosphere for studies. Teachers take extra doubt classes and emphasise overall personality development, inculcating moral values, discipline and guidance.” Meenakshi Rana, a class 11th student studying in the Pariyana coaching centre, said.

The Pariyana residential coaching centre has a total strength of 150 students. 50 students hail from the remote Abujhmad forest area and are selected based on the 10th merit list. Apart from basic food and lodging facilities, the centre provides state-of-the-art facilities such as internet connection, projector, generator, library, indoor-outdoor sports facilities and CCTV surveillance, officials said.

“Pariyana is an ambitious institution. The scheme is a blessing for children of remote Naxal-affected areas. The teacher’s main aim here is to develop the intellect of the children, bring them to the mainstream and ensure their overall personality development,” said Akash Vaishnav, a teacher at Pariyana coaching centre.