Days after four minor inmates were raped by nine men,the focus here is now on the Evangelical Church of India and the dilapidated condition of its hostel-training facility at Pakur districts Litipara village. No senior official of the church has so far reached the site,located on a plot of land gifted by a believer from the adjoining Laudha village. The ECI is headquartered in Chennais Kilpauk. The church has decided to transfer its tailoring training centre to Godda districts Rajpokra. This is because the centre is intended for drop-out girls,who are usually 15 years or older. An official of the church is reportedly scheduled to reach the site on July 20. The school lists 147 students on its rolls for 2013,but the same students also attend classes I-III at a government school in Laudha. One of the four clay-bamboo-asbestos structures house classrooms where tuitions are held to supplement inadequate school teaching,as absenteeism among teachers is allegedly high in the region. However,it is not the absence of pucca structures,but that of a boundary wall that has come in for much criticism in the wake of the July 14 rape. The condition at the facility,which housed about 130 boys and girls,aged between six and 15,at the time of the rape,is far from being child-friendly. Despite this,most parents are considering letting their wards remain at the centre. It is not that there are no schools in our villages. In fact,there is one at a reasonable distance from our house. But no teacher comes there. We want our children to be educated and the missionary schools are our only hope, said Salomi Malto (18),the tailoring instructor at the centre,who hails from Litipara block. Salomi studied up to the class IX; her two siblings are in schools run by missionaries.
