Barwani: Students march 16 km, block highway to voice grievances

Hundreds of students from a government residential school in MP's Barwani marched 16 km to meet the Collector over unaddressed grievances, including alleged casteist slurs. They blocked a highway before the Collector met them and formed a probe committee.

Students March to Meet Collector

Hundreds of students of Eklavya Adarsh Residential School (government) in Jamli, near Sendhwa in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district, hit the streets on Monday and began walking towards the district headquarters to meet Collector, seeking redressal of their grievances. The students began their march from the school around 7:30 am and covered nearly 15-16 kilometres.

The students said they would meet only Collector Jayati Singh and personally present their grievances. They also briefly blocked the Agra-Mumbai National Highway, sitting on the road and demanding that the Collector be called to the spot. Administrative and police officials, including the SDM, SDOP, Additional Collector and Additional Superintendent of Police, reached the students and tried to persuade them to return. But the students continued their march.

Students alleged that several complaints raised earlier had not been addressed and claimed that their parents were also being treated disrespectfully. "We are from Eklavya Jamli and none of the demands we had raised earlier have been fulfilled. The feedback forms that were collected were torn up in front of us. Our parents are not being respected. Gates are being closed in their faces," a student alleged. She further said, "We want to meet the Collector madam. We just want to tell her about our problems."

Collector Assures Action After Meeting Students

Barwani Collector Jayati Singh said that the students from Jamli had raised several grievances, she met with them and discussed their concerns in detail. "The children had some problems, so we came to meet them. They told us about their issues. The main issue is about alleged use of casteist words against them. Apart from this, they have raised some other minor issues and we discussed their concerns in detail," Singh said.

Demands for Better Facilities

She said the students had also demanded better sports facilities and faster completion of an auditorium under construction at the school. "They want better sports facilities. It was good to know that our children are playing volleyball and kho-kho. Some students are also involved in dance and they want the auditorium being constructed to be completed at the earliest. These were the issues that came up during the discussion and the primary issue is the one I referred to earlier (use of casteist words)," the Collector said.

Singh said a committee comprising the SDM and SDOP has been constituted to examine the allegations and other grievances. "We are looking into the matter, and a committee comprising the SDM and SDOP has been constituted. Once the entire matter is examined, we will take action as per the rules," she said. The Collector added that they were concerned about the children's safety and took every possible precaution to ensure that they did not face even the slightest problem. They discussed their concerns with them and would take appropriate action accordingly.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)