By IANS
Kendrapada (Orissa) : Hundreds of children demonstrated in front of a government office in Orissa's Kendrapada district Thursday demanding immediate repair of two tube wells on their school premises which, they claimed, have been non-functional since the past two years.
Two hundred students of Modern Primary School at Kharinashi, a sea side village about 170 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, demonstrated in front of the panchayat office and shouted slogans against the local ruling party leaders and government officials, Sukant Maiti, 10, a class four student of the school told IANS.
All the protesting children are aged ten years or below.
"The local administration had dug two tube wells in the school campus six years ago. But none of the tube wells has been functioning since the past two years. As a result, we are not getting drinking water," said Maiti.
"We collect water from a nearby pond and are forced to drink it even if it is dirty," he added.
"We also joined the school children because their demand is genuine," said schoolteacher Keshava Manna.
"Many parents do not prefer to send their children during the summer due to non-availability of water in the school. Many students trek two km to reach the school and the non-availability of drinking water compelled many of them to skip classes in the summer," said schoolteacher Chandrakanta Haldar.
"Two years back, the district administration had decided to install rain-water harvesting system to provide water to the children. But work for that has not yet started," he added.