Parents, students of tribal settlement in Erode district protest, demand school for their hamlet

Children of the hamlet, located inside a dense forest area in T.N. Palayam Panchayat Union, have to cross 4 streams to get to school; poor conditions of the forest road have made operating a vehicle difficult

Seeking a permanent primary school at Vilankombai tribal settlement and urging the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to carry out repair work to the six-km length of forest road, villagers, students and activists staged a demonstration in front of the Block Education Office and the Forest Range Office at Thooka Naicken Palayam (T.N. Palayam) in Erode district on Monday.

The protest was organised by the Tamil Nadu Tribal People Association, and its state committee member V.P. Gunasekaran, Kadambur K. Ramasamy took part in it, alongside Director of the NGO, SUDAR, S.C. Natraj.

The protesters said that 43 families belonging to the Urali community had been residing in a hamlet located inside the dense forest area at Kongarpalayam Panchayat, in T.N. Palayam Panchayat Union, for generations. In the absence of a school at the hamlet, 30 students have to cross the four streams in the 8 km forest stretch road to reach Vinobanagar. Lack of transportation facilities and poor road conditions had hit the students who were unable to attend school for the last two weeks, they added. “Recent rains have caused extensive damage to the forest road and vehicles could not be operated to transport them to school”, they added.

Hence, they wanted a permanent government primary school to be established at the hamlet. Repair work to the road will pave the way for resuming the operation of a vehicle to transport children to the school, they said. They also wanted work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to be implemented in the hamlet, the distribution ration items through a vehicle, an a permanent solution for the road issue. Later, petitions were submitted to officials concerned.