Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas - Supaul Incident

What is the issue?

Several girls were recently brutally thrashed in their school compound, in Supaul, Bihar, by local boys for opposing their sexual advances.

What happened?

• The boys are from the same village where the KGBV (Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya) is located.
• Reportedly, the girls were attacked because they resisted vulgar messages conveyed on their hostel walls by the boys.
• They threatened to harm the girls and finally did it, and the girls got badly injured.
• The girls had earlier complained to the school authorities regarding this but nothing came of it.

What is the KGBV scheme?

• The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme forms a successful chapter of SSA.
• Residential schools like the KGBV were set up all over India under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
• KGBV schools aim at giving rural girls who had dropped out of school, before ending the primary stage, a second chance.
• Instead going through the primary stage again, Kasturba schools offer a full-time residential opportunity to start at grade 6 level and finish grade 8 when everyone else does.
• Kasturba schools have made notable success and progress in achieving this goal, despite extremely modest financial support.
• KGBVs specifically retained the girls they admit from marginalised sections.
• These include the Schedule Castes, Scheduled Tribes, the minorities and upper castes below the poverty line.
• Moreover, a common element among the girls in the recent incident is poverty.
• Their parents prefer to let them stay at a poorly funded hostel because conditions at home are more worse.
• Their parents value the opportunity in these rural residential schools which they cannot otherwise afford.

What are the policy shortfalls?

• The official website of the Supaul district presents an impressive list of measures taken by the police to ensure security and peace.
• But these measures did not suffice to help those 10 to 14 year-old girls.
• This is not the first time that a KGBV has faced a security breach.
• As it happens in all schemes meant for the poorest sections, the infrastructure and services are minimal and KGBVs are largely insecure.
• Until a few years ago, the state government ran some of the KGBVs with help from the Mahila Samakhya.
• It is a reputed women’s empowerment programme, which imparted efficiency and institutional capacity to the KGBVs under its care.

• But sadly, KGBVs have lost their special status now and, the larger umbrella of SSA has been shrinking, both financially and spirit-wise.
• Compromised provision for basic needs like food, healthcare and security has restrained many KGBVs' progress, especially in northern India.
• Poorly trained staff and vulnerability of employment have also weakened the scheme.
• There is lack of motivation and inadequate funds to keep up with inflation.

What lies ahead?

• KGBVs certainly serve the poor, and play a role in improving gender parity.
• They will remain in demand and will need a longer-term plan and infrastructure.
• Temporary arrangements like supply of smart boards and digital devices may not do.
• Financial and pedagogic inputs will have to be radically enhanced for schooling to have effects on poverty.

Source: Indian Express