Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 9: Children of Ganapathi Nagar slum at Nayapalli who reside in dingy huts are forced to study under dim kerosene lamps at night.
Khushi, a 10-year-old girl from the slum, said about 20 children have been facing this ordeal for the past five years as there is no electricity supply to their homes.
Menaka, a transgender who volunteers for social causes in the slum, has been teaching the slum children for the last two years for free. She teaches the children for at least two hours every day.
“Most of the books for their studies are sponsored by volunteers who were impressed by the children’s zeal to pursue their studies in the face of all obstacles,” says Menaka who herself is overwhelmed at the enthusiasm that the children show towards studies.
Most of the children in the area have no access to education as their parents, who work as daily labourers, do not send their kids to schools which are located far from their huts.
“The slum-dwellers find it safe and convenient to send their children to a makeshift tuition centre that is being run within the slum. The centre though is a very informal one and is starved for funds,” says Menaka.
Children study at the centre in the dim glow of the kerosene lamps, simultaneously staving off an army of mosquitoes swarming over their heads.
Menaka said the children are being exposed to various health problems such as sore throat, respiratory and stomach problems on account of breathing the polluted air that is emitted by the kerosene lamps.
The children also frequently contract fever, cough and other ailments due to unsanitary situations prevailing in the slum, as municipal authorities fail to properly dispose of the garbage in the area, says Gopinath Diggal, father of Jagannath, an eight-year-old boy who comes to the tuition centre for his studies.
All the children hail from severely impoverished families, says Kalia Sahu, secretary of the slum.
The slum receives no financial assistance or even the basic necessities such as electricity and water, as it is built illegally, Sahu adds.
BMC executive engineer RN Mallick said the matter has not been brought to his notice so far.
He added no request has come from the elected representatives of the area, on this issue. He added the department will look into the issue of electricity, after it receives any complaint from the citizens in this regard.
Ward 27 corporator Pratima Routray said,she will look into the matter of electrification and said an electric pole would be erected within one-and-a-half months in the area.