Students block road in Malkangiri

The protesters sat on the main road at Kadamguda junction under Khairput block, about 60 km from here. As a result, vehicular movement through the area to Andhra Pradesh, Chitrakonda and Balimela from one side and Jeypre, Koraput and Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on the other was disrupted.

Alleging that the students who passed their eighth standard in Khairput block were given admission to ninth standard in any other high school, president of Sarbasisakti Sanghathan Rama Pangi, spearheading the agitation, said they would continue the dharna till their demand was fulfilled.

At least eight upper primary schools in the block had been upgraded to high schools with classes upto 8th standard. But students who passed eighth required to move to another high school to complete their study upto 10th standard. The students faced problem seeking admission in other high schools in the block and many preferred quitting their studies to being harassed, Pangi alleged.

District Inspector of Schools-1(DI), Malkangiri, Udayanath Mishra said he was aware of the problem being faced by students but refuted the charge that students were harassed. "Due to shortage of hostels in high schools for SC/ST students this problem has cropped up. We have suggested a few schools for their admission, but the parents are not agreeable because of the distance factor", he said adding efforts were on to sort the problem in consultation with the authorities.