IAS Anurag Pandey makes the difference, reopens closed schools in Bijapur
Team News Riveting
Raipur, December 7
The initiative taken by an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Chhattisgarh in the field of education in the zone affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) has got a national recognition.
The district administration of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh has bagged Skoch silver award for the School Vende Varrat Pandum project that meant going to school again in local dialect. The award has been given in the category of good governance.
Instituted in 2003, SKOCH Award salutes people, projects and institutions that go the extra mile to make India a better nation.
The project was effectively pushed by Anurag Pandey, the then District Collector of Bijapur and IAS officer of 2009-batch. In January 2024, Pandey joined as District Collector of Bijapur, once globally infamous for deadly LWE violence. Pandey established a strong dialogue between the district administration and the community for reforming education in the interior areas and made continuous efforts to make it successful. As a result, success was achieved in reopening 28 schools closed for 20 years in the red zone.
Under this campaign, a door-to-door survey was conducted in 550 villages of the district and about 7,000 children aged 6 to 18 years were identified. Of these, 4,000 children were identified as school dropouts and non-entrants, whose readmission was ensured. In particular, efforts made to spread education in LWE-affected areas have been successful, and now children from these areas are getting the right to education after 20 years.
The level of awareness towards education has increased among the villagers. Earlier, where there was a lack of awareness about the importance of education, now the villagers have started understanding the importance of education and they are being motivated to send children to school. Along with this, they have also been given information about the benefits of education and government schemes, which has given them an opportunity to improve their condition.
Now 24 such schools have been opened in Bijapur, which were closed for the last 20 years. Apart from this, more than 30 new schools have also been started. The step has brought a big revolution in the field of education and will create new opportunities for children.
The campaign has taken steps towards a new direction and bright future for education in Bijapur district. This campaign is not only giving the right to education to the children, but is also bringing positive change in the society.
Pandey attributed the success of the campaign to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, his able guidance and the positive cooperation of the people’s representatives of the district, and the hard work of the teachers, panchayat besides the police officers and employees associated with the campaign.
