Fighting guns with pen, CRPF sets up schools in erstwhile Naxal hotbed

Four villages in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, which had been a Naxal stronghold, have now seen a turnaround with school bells replacing the sound of guns, thanks to an initiative by the Central Reserve Police Force.

The CRPF, which is engaged in anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, has set up schools for primary children in the four villages to bring education to the people’s doorsteps and wean away locals from the outlawed armed movement, officials said.

The facilities, named ‘CRPF Gurukul’, have been set up in Duled, Mukrajkonda, Tekalgudiyam and Puvarti villages, which were considered strongholds of Naxalites till January last year when police camps were established there.

While Tekalgudiyam witnessed a deadly attack on security personnel in the past, Puvarti is the native of place of dreaded Naxalite leader Hidma, believed to be behind various deadly attacks on security forces in Bastar region.

The places where once slogans of ‘Lal Salaam’ and bullets reverberated, now the ringing of school bells and chatter of children could be heard, Deputy Inspector General, CRPF (Sukma Range) Anand Singh Rajpurohit told PTI over the phone.

The four villages were once dominated by Naxalites, but after security camps were opened there in January-February last year, development started reaching these areas, he said.

On April 3, 2021, as many as 22 security personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush in Tekalgudiyam area. On January 30 last year, three CRPF personnel were killed and 15 others injured in an encounter with Naxalites when a police camp was being set up in Tekalgudiyam.

“As these villages did not have schools, we decided to open them to cater to the primary school children,” the DIG said.

The CRPF’s 150th battalion has been stationed in Puvarti and Tekalgudiyam camps, and the 2nd battalion in Mukrajkonda and Duled camps.

A one-room set up with a tin-shed roof has been laid out for schools adjacent to the camps at the four places and one civilian teacher has been hired for each school having a strength of 50 to 60 students, the official said.

Honorarium is paid to the teachers through a fund under the civic action programme provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs, he said.

As of now, the schools have classes till class V. Initially, students have been enrolled for classes I and II and efforts would be made later to upgrade these facilities till class XII, the official said.

Special arrangements have been made for providing uniforms, books, bags, shoes, socks and various types of games like volleyball, football and basketball for physical and mental development of the children on the premises, Rajpurohit said.

Various types of charts and boards have been installed on the school walls, and a big television set with a projector is also proposed for each of the facilities, he said.

The local administration’s support would be sought for further expanding infrastructure like setting up buildings, toilets and hand pumps on the gurukul premises and introducing the facility of mid-day meal provided in government schools, he said.