Home Minister and the guardian of 51

State Home Minister R R Patil had a question for a bunch of children when he visited the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Army School in Phulgaon,about 25 km from here,on Tuesday.

State Home Minister R R Patil had a question for a bunch of children when he visited the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Army School in Phulgaon,about 25 km from here,on Tuesday. Are you homesick? he asked. The answer was prompt and came in chorus: No.

Patil had adopted these 51 children,many of them girls,from Gadchiroli after he took over as the guardian of the Naxal-hit district.

It was part of a promise he had made to provide better education to the children in the district. The children,who are in Class V and VI now,will be given support to complete their education till Class XII.

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Ankush Bisan,one of the chilren,said: “I am very happy. The atmosphere here is good and we get to play hockey and other games. We are not homesick.”

Patil called for bringing progess,better educational facilities to Gadchiroli to defeat the Naxals. The state government can undertake to compensate if the Naxals target these educational institutions,he said.

Due to the existing penury,lack of educational facilities and unemployment,the youth there is taking up weapons and turning to Naxalism. The minister said Class IX students of Gadchiroli district could be taken on a tour of Maharashtra in the near future.

“The children from the area are very intelligent. Most of the constables in the police force are from Gadchiroli. There is a need to improve the primary and secondary education,” he said.

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