Boy breaks down before Rahul, parents turn down Modi govt offer

A day after the son of a salt pan worker cried before Rahul Gandhi complaining how his studies were being compromised in the absence of a hostel in Kharaghoda in Surendrangar, the Gujarat government swung into action and offered his parents help to get him admitted in a hostel. But the parents turned down the offer, saying there were at least 200 other boys facing the same problem.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had interacted with salt pan workers at Kharaghoda, a village bordering the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Patdi taluka of Surendranagar district, on Tuesday. During the interaction, Anil Kansagra, a Class IX student at KGS High School in Nana Gam area of Kharaghoda, had complained that he was not able to study as his parents were away in LRK to work in salt pans and he had to manage their home and cook food for himself.

The SDM of Patdi sought a report from education officers about the boy and accordingly, Viram Goyal, coordinator of Block Resource Centre (BRC) of Patdi, contacted Anil’s uncle Dilabhai. “I told Dilabhai that if they wished, he could recommend the boy to be admitted in a government hostel in Patdi. But he refused the offer saying there were many other children like Anil,” Goyal told The Indian Express.