Padayatra by four tribals to meet President Murmu

BARIPADA: With the demand to accord state status to Mayurbhanj district and implementation of a merger agreement for its all-round development, four youths of the area have set out on a Padayatra since the last three days to meet President Droupadi Murmu at New Delhi and apprise her of the same.

The four include the founder of Mayurbhanj Adivasi Students Association Suklal Marandi, Sauna Murmu, Badal Marandi and Laxmikanta Baskey. Marandi said the tribal-dominated district wallows in neglect with regard to jobs, health, education, communication, water supply and others. 

“The Sareikela Kharsawan district which was a part of Mayurbhanj and now under Jharkhand has been reeling under neglect in every sector of development due to the alleged apathy of the government there. Besides, the central and state government are showing a step-motherly attitude to Mayurbhanj district which is also neglected as far as health, education, employment, communication, irrigation, electrification and water supply are concerned, he said. 

The poor do not get even the housing benefits under the government schemes despite frequent meetings with the officers requesting the same. Worse, they are threatened of being de-listed from the scheme if they do not pay bribe to the officers,” Marandi alleged.

Despite being one of the mineral-rich districts of the state capable of generating employment, locals here suffer from joblessness. “We do not have the patience to tolerate such torture anymore. Once the district becomes a state and the government implements the plans as per the merger agreement, these painful times will cease to exist,” he said.

DHE to start BEd course in Urdu
Bhubaneswar: In wake of the shortage of Urdu teachers in the state, the Higher Education department has asked Bhadrak Autonomous College to open a Bachelors in Education (BEd) course in Urdu in Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) mode by 2024. It will have an intake capacity of 100 students. The department asked the principal to submit an application to NCTE for opening the BEd course with 50 seats in Arts and 50 in Science streams between March and May this year. Currently, BEd and MEd training is provided in English, Odia and Hindi languages. The ITEP aims at preparing teachers for foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary stages as per the new school structure of NEP-2020.