Every day, kids in Sotea village in Assam’s Biswanath district are forced to risk their lives. Why? Because they don’t want to miss their school due to the lack of adequate infrastructure. The kids have to daily cross a river to reach their school. Since there are no bridges or boats for transportation, they have to manage with an Aluminium pot. They carry the pots to the river bank, climb into them and row it all by themselves to get on the other side.
The video of the kids in Aluminium pots has gone viral on social media and has sparked an outrage. Many criticised the abysmal state of affairs in the field of education. The local Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) MLA Pramod Borthakur said he’s ‘ashamed’ of what’s happening. He, however, promised to provide boats for the school kids. “I am ashamed to see this. There is no PWD road in the area. Don’t know how government constructed a school on an island. We can definitely provide a boat for the students. I will ask the district officer to shift the school to another place,” he told ANI.
