Lathore: Children of migrant workers under Khaprakhol block in Bolangir have been deprived of school education as the seasonal hostels operating in schools are yet to reopen due to fund shortage and non-clearance of outstanding bills, a report said.
The hostels were established to help curb child migration and child labour but their closure has dealt a heavy blow to the education of the children of migrant workers.
As a result, hundreds of children belonging to the families of migrant workers have stopped receiving school education. As the hostels are yet to reopen, they have migrated with their parents for a living to outside of the state.
Every year, nearly 3,00,000 people from the state migrate to neighbouring states to work in brick kilns. Children accompanying their parents work with them, and suffer physical and mental torture, according to reports of rights group and civil society organisations working with migrant labourers.
Many suffer from health problems as well. However, establishment of these seasonal hostels in migration prone-districts of the state are helping build the lives of migrant children, the report said.
Reports said that, the Khaprakhol block in Bolangir district is prone to migration and every year thousands of people leave their homes and migrate to other states to earn their livelihood.
Realising the gravity of the situation, the state government established seasonal hostels in various schools under the block so that the children are not deprived of education when their parents migrate to other states. These hostels do not function all round the year but are opened from the month of November till April for a period of six months.
The poor villagers who migrate to other states for work would take their children along. But establishment of these hostels have helped solved the problem. The children can now live in these hostels where they are looked after and educated till their parents return home from other states.
The state government sanctions funds for the food and lodging of these children in the hostels.
Accordingly, the district administration opened 15 hostels in various schools under the block in the 2018-19 financial year. As many as 715 students, all children of migrant workers within the age-group of six to 14 were admitted to these hostels.
The hostel authorities had to spend Rs 70,27,162 lakh towards providing food to these children. The district administration provided Rs 53,82,000 lakh to meet the cost of food to the teachers who were in-charge of these hostels. The teachers spend the money in providing food to these students while Rs 16, 45,162 lakh has remained as outstanding.
Similarly, seasonal hostels were opened in 16 schools in the 2019-20 financial year where 754 students were accommodated to receive education. The hostels were managed with the funds provided by the state government which fell short of the total expenditure incurred during the period.
The hostel authorities have informed about it but the state government is yet to sanction the funds in the last installment. As a result, the teachers in these schools are reluctant to take charge and reopen the hostels.
Some teachers on condition of anonymity said that they have borrowed from the provision stores and from outsiders to run the hostels but they are yet to receive the payment towards the arrears.
They have drawn the attention of the higher authorities but their pleas are yet to be addressed.
When contacted, block education officer Sasthi Prasad Jhankar denied having any knowledge towards the outstanding bills of the teachers managing these seasonal hostels.
Prasant Saraf, district planning officer, blamed the teachers for the impasse. He alleged that these teachers have failed to submit the utilisation certificates in time for which the payment of outstanding bills has been delayed.
PNN
