Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti begins matchmaking

Indore, Mar 11: The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), an autonomous body under the Human Resource Development Ministry, is not way behind the mushrooming marriage portals and is offering matchmaking services for its teachers and other employees working in remote and rural schools.

Alarmed by the growing number of unmarried employees, the NVS posted brief curriculum vitae of several employees in a matchmaking column started recently on its website that says, ''in order to facilitate the marriage of employees, especially among themselves, short biodata will be placed on the website.'' More than 50 employees have posted their details.

''The employees working in remote areas are cut off from mainstream society. This has led to a number of employees remaining unmarried till later ages,'' said Assistant Commissioner (NVS) S B Sharma.

The official said that the NVS was facilitating employees' weddings, especially among themselves. However he did not disclose the percentage of unmarried employees merely saying that it was large.

An employee said that the cut-off from cities and social interaction, except in the campuses, and the problem of remaining unmarried till later ages was ''assuming grave proportions.'' Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas were first established in the eighties for providing quality modern education to talented children predominantly from rural areas. Until now more than 550 schools have been set up in different states enrolling more than 1.5 lakh children.

UNI