Taking suo motu cognizance of The Indian Express report on two girls from a village near India-Pakistan border, who have to take a boat ride and then walk 4-kms to reach a senior secondary school, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Thursday said issued a notice to Punjab government over “lack of proper education facilities for children in the Sutlej surrounded border areas”. The Indian Express, in its edition dated November 16, had reported how Kareena Kaur (12) and Kirna Rani (13) from Kaluwara, a village on the zero line of the border in Ferozepur surrounded on three sides by waters of the Sutlej and by the border fence on the fourth, travel to Gatti Rajoke village to attend classes at the Government Senior Secondary School there. They cross the river on bedi, a boat that is manoeuvered using an overhead cable or rope tethered to poles on either ends of the bank. They are the first girls from their village to attend the senior secondary school across the Sutlej. WATCH: Kareena (12) and Kirna (13) ride a boat everyday, from their village on Zero Line of Indo-Pak border in Punjab, to reach a high school. Instead of dropping out after class 5 like other girls in village, these two opted this @iepunjab @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/5YZ4PsdusU — Divya Goyal (@divya5521) November 16, 2022 In a statement, the NHRC said that it “has observed that the contents of the news report. raise issues pertaining to the apathy of the state authorities towards the Right to Education of the students as well as the Right to life and dignity” of the people residing in the area. “The state has a responsibility to ensure their safety and to safeguard their human rights by providing them an environment to live with dignity.Accordingly, it (Commission) has issued a notice to the Government of Punjab, through its Chief Secretary, calling for a report along with the action taken report about the steps being taken or proposed to be taken to provide for better and hassle-free access to the students to the school in the area, either by creation of a new school at a nearby place or by providing better access, avoiding the river Sutlej, while reaching to the school,” read the statement. With about 50 households, Kaluwara village only has a primary school and most girls drop out after Class 5. Daughters of small farmers, Kirna is in Class 8 and Kareena in Class 6. Issuing the notice, the NHRC also observed that “it becomes imperative that the State Government makes it possible for every child to get an access to the education system, without much hindrance or difficulty so that the fundamental significance of the life of an individual can be achieved” "In this context, it also noted the Supreme Court order in Avinash Mehrotra v. UoI, (2009) 6 SCC 398, as well as the introduction of Article 21-A in the Constitution, which makes the State liable to provide free and compulsory education to all the children of the age of six to 14 years. The Commission has further noted that the Government of India has been emphasizing upon education to the girls. but such news reports indicate that there are many grey areas, where a lot of work is yet to be done. The poor citizens cannot be left to their fate and to use a Berhi (wooden boat) to cross a river daily to reach the school, market or their place of work,” read the statement.
