JANAKPUR, June 11: A six-year-old girl whose educational guardianship was assumed by Chief Minister of Province 2 Lal Babu Raut has apparently been compelled to quit school after being subjected to caste-based discrimination.

Chief Minister Raut had assumed guardianship of Laxminiya Kumari Das of Mithila Bihari Municipality, Dhanusha district at the beginning of the last academic year amid a grand function in the village. It came as a huge relief for Laxminiya’s parents.

“We were elated to learn that our daughter wouldn’t be deprived of schooling because we were poor. However, we had never thought that she would drop out due to caste discrimination,” said Laxminiya’s mother Shiladevi Das.

“Our daughter was made to sit on a separate bench and even the teacher mistreated her,” she added.

According to Shiladevi, Laxminiya started going to school after the chief minister assumed the guardianship,  but she did not attend regularly. “She somehow passed the first grade but refused to go to school after reaching second grade,” she said. Laxminiya sometimes goes to a nearby boarding school with her brother but she is not enrolled there.

Shiladevi and her husband work other people’s fields and have managed to enrol their son in ‘boarding’ school. They lament that after assuming the guardianship, CM Raut has not even once called to ask how their daughter was doing in school. “Financial help is a good thing but there is more to being a guardian than that,” she also said.

At the beginning of last academic year, many high-profile political leaders including Prime Minister KP Oli had assumed the guardianship of underprivileged children. As part of this wave, Chief Minister Raut, Minister for Internal affairs and Law in Province 2 Gyanendra Kumar Yadav, Mayor of Dhanusha Anil Kumar Yadav and Deputy Mayor Anita Kumari Sah had announced they were assuming the guardianship of various Dalit children.

However, after appearing for the final exams in first grade, none of those children have been going to school regularly. None of them were to be seen at Mithila Basic School on Friday. As per the attendance register, none of them has attended class in the last two months of the current academic year.

The register also shows that Laxminiya and another student, Ambika Mallik, whose guardianship was assumed by Deputy Mayor Sah, have been present at school only once between mid-April to Mid-May.

Meanwhile, school principal Rambilas Yadav claimed that allegations of discrimination at the school are baseless. “No student is ill-treated because of caste. We drink water no matter who has touched it, “said Yadav, adding, “Those students whose guardianship was assumed by political leaders have never been regular in their attendance.” They often come to school without the uniform or books and exercise books, he added.

Last year, Minister for Social Development in Province 2, Nawal Kishwor Sah had announced the guardianship of Prem Mahara of Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City-12. He was admitted to local Sankatmochan Secondary School (SSS). According to the school, he has attended regularly. “He is regular and good in his studies,” said Balaram Sah, the principal.

 
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