UP: Obra Inter College Students on Indefinite Sit-in Protest Against Privatisation of Schools

Lucknow: Holding placards proclaiming ‘Education is our birth right’, scores of students from tribal and Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, under the banner of Obra Inter College Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, started an indefinite sit-in protest in Sonbhadra district against UP Power Transmission Corporation Limited’s decision to lease out its schools running in several thermal power plant premises to a Delhi-based institute for 10 years.

The UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL) Board of Directors, in its meeting on March 26, approved the proposal for handing over at least half-a-dozen schools situated within the premises of Obra, Anpara, Parichha, Panki and Harduaganj thermal plants on an annual lease of Rs 36,000 for 10-years.

Anand Kumar, a student of Obra Inter College, run by Obra Thermal Power Station, told NewsClick, "For the last six years, we have been demanding a government inter college in Sonbhadra as there is not a single government school for boys within the radius of 40 km. Obra Inter College of the corporation was our single hope to complete our studies at low fees, but instead of making it a government school as the local leaders promised, it was given to a Delhi-based private firm."

He said at the time of construction of the Obra Power Plant, the government and the energy department had claimed that education, roads, water and health would be provided free of cost to the local people by the corporation within a five km radius of the plant. Still, it was merely "lip service".

Students from SC and ST backgrounds paid Rs 5 per month, while Other Backward Class (OBC) and General category paid Rs 20 per month as fees. "After the privatisation, we will pay Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 depending on the class. We are being deprived of education, and for this, society and teachers are responsible. They will not support our agitation," said Kumar.

In Obra Inter College, around 1,700 students from underprivileged backgrounds (SC/ST) will be forced to drop out of school. 

Shaym Sundar, a student of the SC community who comes from an outskirt area of Sonbhadra, around 8 km from Obra Inter College, told NewsClick, "There are many students like me who cannot afford a pair of slippers then how come we will pay such a hefty amount of fees. There is no other way out except to drop out of college.”

"We have been told to pay Rs 10,000 admission fees, and then Rs 2,000 fees will be deposited monthly. We are three brothers, and all study in the same school for which we would pay Rs 15 (Rs 5 each). Now we have to pay 6,000 per month, which is impossible for my father. Many like us cannot afford the fees after the privatisation." he told NewsClick. 

Students, villagers, staff and teachers’ associations are criticising the government for abandoning its responsibility to provide education and for handing over its land and resources to private parties.

Akash, another student whose father is a tea seller at a local dhaba, said, "My father hardly earns Rs 4,000 per month selling tea and other stuff. With this money, will he run the household or pay my fees? The dream of eradicating poverty by becoming an engineer will not be fulfilled, it seems.”

Mahima, a dalit student of Degree College Road, told NewsClick that her parents asked her not to attend college further as they could not afford the fee. 

"Most students come from financially weaker sections, OBC or SC/ST.  If we had money, we would have gone to a convent school where we get quality education, but we are studying at Obra Inter College under compulsion as our parents cannot afford fees," she told NewsClick. 

Students sitting on dharna alleged that in this “mafia game” of education, all the schools of Obra, Anpara, Panki, Pariksha and Harduaganj Production Corporation have been “sold under the guise of a lease” based on an annual fee of just Rs 36,000 per annum.

The Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti (union), which had called for a strike last month, is supporting the protesting students. The union wrote to UPRVUNL to cancel the lease given to DAV Delhi.

"Students of Obra Inter College topped the UP Board examination twice earlier, and the school was focusing on quality education of poor students. Unfortunately, the corporation handed over to the private player for 10 years at Rs 36,000 annually. Children of mostly outsourced/lower workers who hardly get Rs 8,000 per month study there, and they cannot afford Rs 2,000 per month fees. We are in touch with the protesting students and will support them," Shailendra Dubey, convener of Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, told NewsClick.