UMERKOTE: For students of government new primary school at Rampara village in Nabarangpur’s Umerkote block, getting safe drinking water is a strenuous affair. Every day, they have to trek more than 500 metre to fetch clean water and with the onset of summer, their woes have compounded.
Sourabh Mali of Rampara village said pipe water is a distant dream for students as the school doesn’t even have a tube-well to cater to their daily needs. The students have to depend on a stand post in the village which is located more than half a kilometre away from the school.
“The government has taken several measures to provide drinking water in schools. But in our primary school, there is no such facility due to the careless attitude of the officials concerned,” he added. Established in 2014, the primary school at Rampara has 179 students enrolled in Classes I to V.
Another villager Dibya Gond said in absence of drinking water facility, it is difficult to cook mid-day meals for students. The school authorities regularly face problems in preparing the noon meals. Besides, the students have to find solace in nearby bushes to answer nature’s call.
“Various schemes have been launched to attract students to schools in rural areas. But it seems Rampara is an exception as the children of this village have been left to fend for themselves,” rued Gond. The villagers claimed that they requested the district officials to install a tube-well on the school premises several times in the past. But all their pleas fell on deaf ears. Contacted, block development officer of Umerkote Himachal Majhi said he will instruct the junior engineer to visit Rampara new primary school and take immediate steps to dig a tube-well on the campus.