36,000 model tribal villages to be developed across country: Arjun Munda
The Hindu
The Tribal Affairs Minister said the villages will be developed with an emphasis on rural development, protection of forest rights and ethnic practices of indigenous people
Union Minister Arjun Munda on Monday said the Centre is planning to transform 36,000 hamlets to "model tribal villages" with an emphasis on rural development, protection of forest rights and ethnic practices of indigenous people. Of these villages, 1,700 will be in Assam, the Tribal Affairs Minister said here. "We are planning to develop these villages in such a manner that various factors like rural development, protection of ethnic or autonomous systems, forest rights and entrepreneurship can be linked,” Mr. Munda told reporters. Under the programme, basic amenities will also be improved in the selected villages, he said.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.