Chhattisgarh to set up bamboo-fitted schools

The schools in the insurgency-hit pockets of Chhattisgarh will now be constructed with bamboo to prevent Naxalites destroying the school buildings.

Under the plan, the school infrastructure would be built by the bamboo. Besides roof, the furniture would also be made by bamboo.

The Naxalites are destroying school buildings affecting academic activities in the restive areas, K R Pisda, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission, said. The National Bamboo Mission will execute the project. The construction would be such that the authorities could assemble it later in another place. Efforts are being made to set up schools on roadsides or near the relief camps so that it can be away from the shadow of Naxal terror and maximum students can attend the classes, Pisda added.

Officials said that the project would be taken up under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The state government had earlier sent a proposal to the Human Resoures ministry suggesting bamboo schools in the Naxal-infested areas, a senior official with the education department said. The ministry gave its consent last month.

In the interior areas where the Naxalite guerillas are active, school education has virtually stopped. Lack of proper infrastructure is one of the reasons for the same. The rebels had been destroying school buildings as security forces are using them to stay during operations against the Naxalites.