No time for school

Though the state acquired over 1,800 acres of the 2,900-odd acres of land needed for the long-delayed project,they came up against the childrens wall along the sandy plateau separating Govindpur and Nuagaon village,where children like Biswambar have been lying down on hot,sandy fields.

On June 21,the Jagatsinghpur district administration,which sent 23 platoons of the police,had to step back and announce a temporary stop to land acquisition.

Our strategy was to put children on the frontline. The women are the second line of defence. Unless the cops fire at the children,they will not be able to acquire land. Our strategy is Bapa-maa-chhua (father-mother-child) to block land acquisition moves, says Abhay Sahoo,a former member of the CPIs Orissa State Committee and president of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS),the foremost anti-Posco front in Jagatsinghpur for the last six years.

Though the police have stepped back and are now stationed at Balitutha village,about five km from Govindpur,Biswambar reports to duty at the sandy plateau at sharp 6 a.m. He has just been made president of the Baji Rout Balut Sena,a childrens army named after a teenage freedom fighter from Orissas Dhenkanal district who fell to the bullets of the British.

Biswambars mother Bachani,father Ramesh and four younger brothers also follow him from their home in Govindpur. Though his school re-opened last week after a long summer vacation,Biswambar,like other children in his village,has been skipping classes to save my fathers betelvines and cashew plants.

At the protest site,the PPSS has put up a massive cloth tent to protect the hundreds of protestors from the unrelenting sun. Lying on the hot sand is tough. The other day,it almost seared my body. But I am determined to stay here, he says.

Around noon,Biswambar,who has been sitting since morning,suddenly jumps into action as activist Vandana Shiva shows up at the protest site. Posco company murdabad, he shouts into the megaphone as Shiva looks at him in amazement.

Early this week,Orissa Women and Child Development Minister Anjali Behera asked the Jagatsinghpur district social welfare officer to probe how children had turned up to protest. The officer did a quick probe and announced that children were being forced to protest and skip schools.

Jadunath Das,headmaster of Govindpur Upper Primary School,says student attendance has gone down considerably due to the Posco protest. We have 246 students. But only about 100 students come these days. They will surely lose out on education, says Das.

But Biswambar doesnt agree. My father has a betelvine with over 200 betel creepers. Where will we go once that is demolished? What will I gain by studying when my fathers livelihood is being taken away? I would rather miss my class and protest, says Biswambar. He nods his head vigorously to deny that he had been tutored or forced to attend the protest.

Around 1.30 p.m.,the protest winds up for the day and the boy snacks on soaked sabudana that his mother Bachani has brought him.

As protesters sit around,discussing strategies to guard the village at night,Bachani says she is proud of her son. All my sons,my sisters-in-law,brothers-in-law and even my mother-in-law have come here. Last year,the cops at Balitutha fired rubber bullets at me. I am still unable to lift my arm. We are ready to die for our betelvines, she says.

PRIYADARSHINI SAHOO

AGE: 12

Class VII,Govindpur Upper Primary School

Father Giridhari Sahoo owns a small betel farm where he grows around 100 creepers

Like Biswambar,Priyadarshini from Govindpur village is a regular at the protest site. The class VII student of Govindpur Upper Primary School says she is scared her family will lose their small betelvine to Posco. Every morning,Priyadarshini rushes to the protest site with his father Giridhari Sahoo and grandparents Daitari Sahoo and Marua Sahoo.

The barefoot Priyadarshini hasnt gone to school since it reopened a week ago. For the first few days,I saw my parents going to the protest site. Then,I decided to join them. My father has a small betelvine. We will be beggars if we lose our land. How can I stay at home, asks the girl,wearing a tatty frock and nibbling on Tiger biscuits.

Priyadarshini seems to have picked up her grandmother Marua Sahoos lines. The small betelvine has been with us for the last 40-50 years. We send our betel leaves to Pune,Mumbai,Delhi and Banaras, she says.

An old man sprays water on the hot sand from a knapsack. The sand gets so hot that it feels like sitting on fire. When the policemen arrived last week,I was scared,but kept sitting, says Priyadarshini.

THE SCHOOL

Even at the best of times,students dont come to school. Their parents think its a waste of time, says Jadunath Das,headmaster of the Govindpuri Upper

Primary school.

A week after the school reopened after the summer vacation,it looks deserted with 100-odd children of Govindpur out protesting. The prayer meetings are sparsely attended. The only school in the village,with classes from I to VIII,has just four teachers for the 240-odd students on the rolls. The school does not have separate classrooms; only a huge hall partitioned with tin sheets. Students of at least three different classes sit together in one classroom.

The schools mid-day meal scheme hasnt been running well enough and thats good reason for children to turn up at the anti-Posco protest site rather than at school. We have run out of dal and rice stocks since June 20. Children wont come unless the schools give mid day meal, says Ballabhi Sahoo,secretary of a self-help group that supervises the preparation of the mid-day meal.