COIMBATORE: Palaiya Sarkarpathi, a tribal settlement under Vetaikaran puthur municipality in Anaimalai taluk with population of 450 families belonging to Malasar tribe, lacks transportation facility. More than 30 students have dropped out of school because they do not have buses to reach school.
According to the villagers, the road from the village to the nearby bus stop, which is in Sethumadai, is 5 km away and from there to the school is another 5 km. "There are many ways in between the forest to reach the school, but I don't want to take the risk of letting my daughter travel alone," said C Saritha, a 37-year-old woman who runs the family with the Rs 300 she earns as daily-wage worker.
"Almost all the people in this village are daily-wage labourers and to spend Rs 100 on private transport is too much for us," she added.
Since the number of girls going to high school exceeds the number of boys, it is girls who drop out of school in the fear of travelling every day through the forest.
C Radhika, 16, said their opportunity for education was very uncertain as at any time they can be stopped from going to school by their parents citing safety reasons. "Without proper transportation and not much money to spend, even I have a thought of stopping my education," she said.
Some of parents said even though they have the benefit of reservation to get a college admission, they were not able to enjoy the fruits of that because of the discontinuation even before their school education completes.
I Nagarajan of Panthakkalammanpathi, said he pulled his three children out of school due to non-availability of transport. "It's almost 9 km to reach Kottur, which has a school and how is it possible for a person like me to take my three children to the school and bring them back," he said.
He added that there is a school in Aliyar and it is 3 km away from here, but the problem is the path to Aliyar is through the forest. So, people prefer Kottur to Aliyar.
Marimuthu, father of two girls, said he stopped his children after he found his income was spent on arranging transport for them, "It's not only for children, even when a sick person has to go to a hospital, the auto fare is unaffordable,"
Villagers said the auto fare was almost `600 for a round trip to Kottur and that means they pay their two days' salary. Also, autos cannot be reached during emergencies.
Thakare Shubham Dnyandeorao, Sub Collector, Pollachi, said he was unaware of the issue and assured he will look into it. When asked about the scheme to provide transport facility to school students till grade eight under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Sethumadai Government High School Headteacher, Ramesh, said, "We have sent a request seeking transport for the students in the village, we have not received any response yet."
An official in Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in Coimbatore said, he did not receive any letter from the school and said he will check with the officials.
E Pugazhendi, Pollachi forest ranger, said, "Forest department is taking steps to operate battery-operated vehicles for the students studying. With more than 30 students dropping their school education, this should have been the primary concern of the officers," said tribal body president V S Paramasivam. "They should have done something years back taking into consideration all the petitions and requests the people have given to the officials."