Paramilitaries impart free computer education to kids in Maoist-hit Latehar
Latehar (Jharkhand), Dec. 2 (ANI)
Concerned about the growing Maoist influence among villages in Jharkhand, paramilitary officials are providing free computer education to children with an aim of making them self-reliant and preventing them from being recruited by the Maoists.
Recently, the Central Reserve Police Force in Latehar district selected 60 children, belonging to poor and backward families in Maoist-infested areas with the aim of imparting computer literacy.
The Commandant of Central Reserve Police Force battalion 24, Sanjay Kumar, said: "If we are looking for one child, four are ready for learning. Matriculate students are roaming unemployed in the region. Our company commanders contacted the villagers and got in touch with their children. We organised a simple interview selection test of those children, where they were asked to write three-four words, as this programme is to impart computer literacy, so basic education was required. Sixty students are selected, out of which more than 50 percent are girls."
Children who have completed the 10th standard have been selected for the free computer education.
Children expressed their gratitude to the paramilitary force for taking this initiative as it would make them economically independent and socially responsible.
"We do have the facility of computer education in our village but the paramilitary officials have begun with this programme. Most of the youth are unemployed in this region; the government is not able to provide employment to each and every person. After completing this programme, many of the boys and girls will get employment," said a student, Mukesh Kumar.
In the last few years, the rebels have stepped up their efforts against the government as well as the locals, after various locals complained that Maoist activities such as killings and abductions increased considerably in the area.
According to certain reports, Maoists are facing an acute shortage of personnel in several areas of central and eastern India, due to the steps taken by the state and federal security forces to curtail the insurgency.
The guerrilla war, waged mostly from the forests of central and eastern India now poses the biggest internal security challenge, say analysts.
Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in the violence, perpetrated by the rebels as well as security forces in counter insurgency operations.