Mainpuri Govt. school, SC children asked to keep their plates apart

Ground Report | New Delhi: Mainpuri Govt. school, SC children; Even though 75 years have passed since the independence of the country, untouchability is still a bitter reality in many parts. A hallmark of this has come out from Uttar Pradesh. Sixty out of 80 children in Daudpur Government Primary School in the Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh belong to the Scheduled Castes. But recently when a complaint was made, the authorities came to know that the utensils which these children used for their mid-day meal were kept separate in the premises, and were washed by the children themselves.

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Mainpuri Govt. school, SC children

According to the report of Indian Express, after a complaint recently, the authorities came to know that the utensils used for the mid-day meal in this school are kept separate from the children belonging to the Scheduled Castes. Also, these children have to wash these utensils themselves.

When the officials arrived on a visit to this school in Bewar block, the headmistress of this school, Garim Rajput, was suspended on Friday. Two cooks were also removed who said that they could not touch the utensils of these children.

Mainpuri Basic Education Officer (BSA) Kamal Singh said that the complaint of caste discrimination in the school by the husband of newly elected sarpanch Manju Devi has been found to be true. He said, “We received a complaint about this on Wednesday and a team was sent to the school for inspection.

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Singh further added, “The utensils used by the scheduled caste children and other children were kept separately. Block Development Officer and other officials visited the school. During the tour, cooks Somvati and Laxmi Devi refused to touch the utensils of Scheduled Caste students, saying they could not work in the school if they were forced to do so. They also used caste slurs".

Discrimination against SC

Sarpanch Manju Devi's husband Saheb Singh said that some parents had told him about discrimination in the school on September 15. He said, 'On September 18, I went to school for a meeting. I noticed that the kitchen was dirty and only 10-15 plates were kept in it. I asked the cooks where are the rest of the thalis, they said that the thalis in the kitchen belonged to backward and general category students, while 50-60 thalis were kept aside.

Mainpuri is considered the stronghold of Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. Shubham Singh, who won the SP-backed Mainpuri district panchayat seat, said he had visited the village. He said, 'BJP makes tall claims of Dalit upliftment. They give symbolic posts to some community leaders, but this is the reality of UP… Decades back Dr. B. R. Ambedkar also faced such issues during his school days.'

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