Food security activists have requested West Singhbhum district administration to use district mineral foundation trust (DMFT) funds for a comprehensive campaign to bridge literacy gap of children due to closure of primary schools for nearly two years.

The delegation of Khadya Suraksha Jan Adhikar Manch, West Singhbhum unit, met the district deputy commissioner Ananya Mittal on Tuesday, highlighting the negative impact on academic acumen of children due to the closure of primary schools in the pandemic for nearly two years.

“The closure of schools in the last two years has had a terrifying effect on the academic ability of children, especially those belonging to poor families in rural areas and not having access to smart phones.

“Rural children have received little or no education in the last two years. Primary students have almost forgotten to read. Children will reach the next class in a few days, which is three classes higher than where they were before lockdown. The question is how they will be able to understand three years of education. We apprehend that large number of children will drop out,” said activist Ramesh Jerai.

“The Manch demands that a comprehensive literacy campaign be started in the district, especially for primary school children with support of NGOs, social organisations, public representatives, school administration, district administration and society as a whole.

“The aim of this campaign should be to teach foundation courses to all the children so that no one drops out and by next year each child can develop academic potential according to his age and class,” added Jerai.

The delegation suggested that as part of the special campaign, children should be taught foundation course studies for two hours in their own locality every evening after regular school.

The youths from every village, who have passed Class X exam, should be given the responsibility of teaching the children at the village level. They should be selected by the Gram Sabha and a basic training should be given to them. For their cooperation, the youths should be given a letter of appreciation and an incentive of Rs 1,000 per month. Along with the youth, all administrative officers and departmental personnel of every level should also be tagged with it and everyone should be given the responsibility of teaching at least one day (two hours) in a week.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Manch, on Wednesday, met social security minister Joba Majhi to discuss the problems in implementation of Anganwadi services and Universal Pension Scheme and demanded adequate budget allocation for nutrition and pension issues in the forthcoming budget of 2022-23.

In the last one week, the forum also met the MLAs of the district and raised these demands and demanded that the problems be discussed in the budget session.

Joba Majhi said that the finance department will look into all suggestions before framing the budget.

“The government is committed to provide a budget for six eggs a week and Take Home Ration and budget allocation would be made for it. All suggestions would be considered before framing the budget,” said Majhi.