After deathly silence, bells ringing again at 3 schools near Maoist den

Nagpur: On a day govt and private-aided schools reopened in Vidarbha, in remote Maoist-hit Bhamragarh tehsil in Gadchiroli district, students were picked up from homes in a bullock cart and driven to the village’s zilla parishad school.
Also, three schools in the tehsil near Maoist headquarters Abujmarh, which had been closed for a long time due to threat from the rebels, reopened on Monday.

One of the major reasons for the prolonged shutdown of the three schools near Abujmarh on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border was attributed to Naxal violence which prevented the govt machinery (teachers etc) from operating freely. As the naxal menace is being brought into control, life is limping back to normalcy there, said sources.
At Koynaguda village in the same tehsil, tiny tots were picked up from their homes in bullock cart and ferried to the village’s ZP school along with ‘band-bajaa’. Vinit Padmawar, principal of the local ZP school, said “School reopening is like a festival. We want to celebrate the entry of students into the temple of learning. Such fun and festivities also help students adapt to being away from home and parents for a few hours.”
Villagers volunteered to participate in the bullock cart procession. Padmawar said, “Unlike in urban settings, this is a common practice in small villages. These kids are from our village and it is our responsibility to make them as comfortable as possible inside school.”
In Nagpur city, students walked through balloon-adorned arches as teachers showered them with flower petals to celebrate the kids’ first day in school. Resmi Umesh, principal of Saraswati Vidyalaya (Primary) said, “It’s been a few months since we heard the laughter and chatter of kids on campus. Having them back and helping them in their journey of education is special.”
St Ursula Girls school, as part of an initiative taken by school manager Rachna Singh, brought in members of the Nagpur Book Club in their special event held to welcome the kids.
But Day 1 was not all rosy for everyone as overnight rains had left approach roads to certain schools in a mess. In some areas of Nagpur, slush on the non-tar approach roads posed a challenge for kids who were heading to their schools in new uniforms. The ongoing road construction works also made navigating traffic challenging as Day 1 always sees heavy attendance with parents accompanying their children to schools.