E-Paper
Proud to be a Bihari, but?
The students from Bihar in Delhi believe their state is not a forgotten prospect, writes Pallavi.
For Shashi Prabha, securing a seat at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was not a long cherished dream, but a sheer compulsion.
Her school in Bihar's Gaya district was shut down soon after she passed out. Studying further was a long struggle in a state that bears the notorious distinction of trailing the development parade.
So Prabha, coming from a middle class family, had to seek avenues outside the state.
"I wanted to study in Bihar but found that the educational institutions there were either being shut down or perishing slowly. Realising that education was something I couldn't compromise on, I decided to move on," she says.
Ranjini finds herself in the same boat as Prabha. Daughter of a schoolteacher in Faridpur village of Patna district, and currently an MA student at JNU, she gets agitated at the mere mention of Bihar.
She has grown up seeing her mother wage constant battles - particularly waiting for months to get her salary. Ranjini recalls another struggle that she went through everyday -- travelling to school on bullock carts that bumped dangerously on the pothole-ridden roads.
Still, she admits Bihar is not a forgotten prospect while enumerating practical problems.
"I know I have certain moral duties towards the state. But education definitely is a priority. Sessions are running late in Bihar's colleges. Mid-day meal schemes are not being implemented. There's complete politicisation of education. In such a scenario, we have no choice but to venture out of the state."
