By IANS
Patna : The Raj Bhavan or governor’s house here is planning to adopt and educate 1,000 Dalit children of the Musahar community from Bihar’s Bhagalpur and Bhojpur districts, an official said Tuesday.
Krishna Kumar, officer on special duty at the Raj Bhavan, said: “About 1,000 children in the age group of five to seven and belonging to the Musahar community will be adopted and enrolled in government schools soon.”
The Musahar community is considered the most backward and marginalized among Dalits in Bihar. Dalits constitute nearly 15 percent of the state’s 83 million people.
“The Raj Bhavan will take the help of universities and NGOs to educate the adopted children,” Kumar added.
The Tilika Manjhi Bhagalpur University and Veer Kuer Singh University in Bhojpur will request their staff to make voluntary donations of Rs.1 each day to create an education fund for the children. Volunteers will also collect one spoon of rice every day from teachers to feed them.
Apart from providing formal education to the children, experts from the universities will interact with them and identify their talents in art, culture, technical skills and sports.
Raj Bhavan sources said it was Bihar Governor R.S. Gavai’s idea to adopt the children. He hails from Maharashtra and was impressed by the success of similar scheme in that state.