Modi stress on school enrolment drive, girl child

Ahmedabad, June 18: In a bid to achieve cent per cent enrolment and zero drop-out rate in primary schools, the Gujarat Government has launched the annual 'shala praveshotsava' with Chief Minister Narendra Modi himself leading the campaign.

In all, 1,86,225 children were admitted to Std I on Day One of the three-day campaign yesterday. They included 97,240 boys and 88,985 girls, as per reports reaching here from various districts.

For three days, all the ministers, local legislators, senior IAS and even IPS officers, besides officials of education department, have been travelling particularly to such villages which have very low female literacy.

The villages have been identified by the department, as months of preparation had gone into preparing the schedule. Each VIP has to cover at least five villages every day.

Mr Modi today covered five farthest village - Dabkhal, Amba, Dikshal, Vadoli and Hunda - in the predominantly tribal Kaprada taluka in Valsad district.

The campaign, called 'Kanya Kelavani Rath Yatra', is being observed for the last couple of years under the supervision of Education Minister Anandiben Patel.

As an added incentive, the freshers in the five-plus age group in colourful dress are taken round the village in tractor-trolleys, trucks, camel or bullock carts as they enter the school compound to a warm welcome by their parents, teachers, village sarpanch, social activists and prominent citizens.

Even as boys and girls are offered sweets, the government presents 'Vidyalakshmi Bonds' of Rs 1,000 to each girl student as an incentive to retain them in school. The campaign concludes tomorrow.

UNI