Manawar (Madhya Pradesh): On Monday evening, when the tribal girls at the Subhash Chandra Bose girls’ hostel in Gopalpura, some two kilometres from the tehsil headquarters, came out to play on the ground outside their hostel after a weary day of school, they were in for a rude shock.
They saw some men breaking the security fencing around the playground and digging holes. When asked, the men told them they were from the PHE department. When they protested, a female official of the department allegedly hit one of the girls, took a stick and shooed them away. “Get lost,” she allegedly said.
Alarmed, the girl ran into their hostel and informed the guard, the assistant warden and other staff about the development. The officials told them that the land belonged to PHE and they were going to construct quarters for chowkidars of the department. But the girls were adamant and stood their ground, and finally the PHE men left, but threatened to come back the next day.
Hostel superintendent Kusum Kavche and BRC Kishore Bageshwar were informed, and they informed their higher-ups, who directed them to lodge a complaint at the Manawar police station.
Accompanied by some of the girls, superintendent Kavche reached Manawar police station at 9 pm and filed a complaint against the PHE officials. Soon, the PHE officials also reached the police station, as did Tehsildar Vijay Talware.
There was a heated debate, and the girls, backed by the hostel authorities, put up a spirited defence. They argued that this was the only space where they could relax and it was also the venue for their cultural activities for the past 10 years.
They pointed out that the PHE had already fenced off a large chunk of land behind the hostel for plantation, reducing their open area. The girls made it clear that they would escalate the protest if the land were taken from them. Finally, Tehsildar Talware said he would check the land records to decide the ownership. He also asked the hostel authorities to withdraw their complaint against PHE officials, which they did.
Talking to Free Press, Tehsildar Talware said that the land had been allotted to the PHE, but added that the playground would remain for the girls.
BRC Bageshwar said the girls’ brave stand swayed the tehsildar Talware towards them.
“Tehsildar Talware inspected the spot and said that he had asked the PHE to build their quarters at some other place,” BRC Bageshwar said. PHE SDO Arun Chouhan was also there.
“Talware sir said that the girls needed the playground. He also asked us to construct a boundary wall around the ground for which we have been allotted money. I have already put up a wire fencing around the ground. All the girls are happy that they still have their playground.”
