By IANS,
Patna : Bihar Police have roped in IIT students to provide free coaching to students in Maoist-affected villages to wean them away from rebels, a police official said Monday.
“A group of IITians will coach students for free in Maoists affected villages to prepare them for engineering and medical examinations and to clear Class 10 and 12 examinations,” Rohtas District Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said.
Maharaj said some IITians have agreed to help police to teach students in Maoist-affected villages.
Maharaj told IANS that nearly 1,000 students in over two dozen villages under Nauhatta block in Rohtas had enrolled for free coaching by IITians.
About 150 km from Patna, Rohtas is considered a Moist stronghold.
He said police would provide all facilities to run the free coaching. “In the beginning, free coaching would be given near Nauhatta block.”
Maharaj said the offer of free coaching has created a positive atmosphere in the villages. “The response is better than expected. Students and their parents from Maoist-affected villages have shown interest in the free coaching,” Maharaj said.
Six IIT students from IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Kanpur, will tutor the students.
Last year, Maharaj used Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s picture in a poster asking poor and backward youths from rural areas not to join the rebels and to enlist in the security forces. However, Bachchan objected to the use of his picture without his consent.