VILLUPURAM: Blaming the DMK members in the area for the shutting down of their tuition centre, a group of youngsters from Manalapadi village in Gingee taluk have demanded the district administration take steps to reopen the centre.
The Bhimrao Ambedkar Evening Tuition Centre has been run for the last year by a group of Dalit youngsters, with over 40 students between classes 1 to 8 studying there.
Sources said the centre was forced to close down citing the poor condition of the building, owned by a woman self-help group in the village.
Speaking to TNIE, a coordinator of the centre, on condition of anonymity, said, “We have been trying hard to help children from our area (the Scheduled Caste residential section in the village) learn better. That’s why we started this evening's tuition centre in the building. But over the last three months, several other people in our village are persuading the SHG members and village authorities to shut it down.”
The coordinator said members belonging to the DMK party in the village are behind the shutting down of the centre. “They fear that we will influence the children politically and use them against the ruling party. They (DMK members) claim since the Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme is active in the village, there is no need for a tuition centre like ours. This is politically motivated,” said the coordinator.
K Ranjitha (45), president of Gingee block’s women self self-help group scheme under DRDA department, told TNIE, “The ceiling of the building is damaged and that some repair work needs to be done. It was due to this that we had to shut the tuition centre. We have also filed a representation to the department to renovate the building. We received instructions from the BDO office to stop lending our building for other schemes/departments in order to use them for the Mahalir Thittam scheme. We are not against the tuition in any way. It can run in any other good building.”
P Sakthivel (30), another coordinator, said the team running the tuition centre demands the district administration to intervene in the issue and arrange for an alternative place for the tuition centre to function, keeping the welfare of the children in mind. Sources from the DRDA said the children could join the Illam Thedi Kalvi tuition centres in the village or the organisers need to arrange for a private space to run the tuition centre.