Malkangiri: In unfortunate incidents, two minor boys were reportedly turned away by schools here and were denied admission as they are physically challenged.
The incident was reported from Tangapali village near Chhattisgarh border in Malkangiri district. They were identified as Chandra Khurami (11), son of widow Jema Khurami, and Prahalad Madkami (10), son of late Lakhama Madkami.
Jema admitted Chandra to the village school after the death of her husband. She toiled day and night to ensure her boy’s education. Jema did petty jobs to see to it that Chandra went to school Jema’s hard work and patience paid off and Chandra passed his Class V with good marks.
However, things turned sour after Jema tried to enrol Chandra at a high school. She was taken aback that her son’s disability turned out to be an obstacle for his studies. Surprisingly, they were turned away by all of the schools they approached for admission.
While some schools turned them away citing non-availability of seats, some openly stated that the reason for denial of admission was the boy’s disability. Being illiterate and with no source of support, Jema says she has no option but to discontinue her son’s studies.
“My husband died when Chandra was a toddler. Since then, I have struggled all by myself and tried to educate my son. I have not allowed his disability to become an obstacle for his future,” Jema said.
“Out of my two sons and one daughter, Chandra is the youngest and is the brightest. He has six fingers in his left hand, is humpbacked, has a deformed chest and looks much smaller in size for his age,” Jema said.
Same is the fate of Prahalad who was turned away by all high schools after finishing Class V due to his disability. Prahalad was two years old when misfortune struck.
Prahalad fell down and broke his back. His widowed mother Sabita got his treatment done at various hospitals but to no avail. She even mortgaged her house and property and took him to a hospital in Andhra Pradesh. There too, she failed to get proper treatment for her son.
Since then, Prahalad has suffered a deformity in his back and is unable to walk properly. He also has trouble sitting upright and faces difficulty while sleeping. The family lives off a paltry widow’s pension that the government pays to Sabita.
Sabita and Jema pleaded with the administration to look into the plight of their sons and extend a helping hand. A little help from the government would give a new life to our children, the women said. PNN
