Forced to travel 50 km for online classes, Maha village kids move rights panel

New Delhi, August 22

Around 200 children were forced to travel 50 km everyday to reach an area with Internet connection to attend online classes from their remote coastal villages in Maharashtra after they were hit first by Covid-19 lockdown and then by cyclone Nisarga.

Hit by a pandemic and then a natural disaster, the children had to deal with Internet disruptions since early June when connectivity along the coastal area of Ratnagiri district became scratchy.

But when even after a month the situation did not improve, one of the students finally reached out to the National Commission for Protection Child Rights for help.

The commission, in turn, ensured that the connectivity is restored in the fastest possible manner by reaching out to cellular companies and the district magistrate (DM) of the area, NCPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo said.

In his letter to the DM of the area, Kanoongo stressed that the authorities must ensure that the issue gets resolved at the earliest.

“The commission has taken cognizance of a complaint received regarding poor and disrupted network connectivity along coastal area of Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra, particularly in the area of PIN Code 415714, which was deadly hit by cyclone Nisarg on June 3, 2020 and since then, the residents of area do not have mobile and data connectivity,” Kanoongo said in the letter to the DM on July 25.

“As a result, around 200 students are facing difficulties in online educational activities due to corona lockdown. Besides, the students are taking pain to travel about 50 kms a day to access data connectivity for their online education activities,” he said.

Kanoongo said the NCPCR continuously followed up with the authorities and finally the Internet connection in the area was restored by one of the cellular networks while the rest of them assured that they will resolve the issue at the earliest. — PTI