There are a few visuals that epitomise the school-going experience in India -- kids packed sardine-style into an ambling rickshaw, a ridiculously large bottle hung around the neck, and of course, the backpack stuffed to the brim with books and slung over the shoulders of a child half its size. For many years people thought nothing of this daily struggle between bag and gravity because, God forbid, you should turn up to class without one of the dozens of assigned textbooks in tow. But now studies have revealed that by carrying such an excessive load millions of children are facing an unpleasant fate.
As a direct result of these bags as many as 68 per cent of school-going children between the ages of 7 and 13 are at risk of back-related injuries in the future. Of the many voices protesting this issue the one which was finally heard belonged to a young 12-year-old boy from Chandrapur, Maharashtra, called Rugved Raikwar. The student of Vidyaniketan School decided to take matters into his own hands and staged a sit-in at the RBI square on Sunday in order to protest the authorities’ lack of concern over the health and well-being of the country’s children.
Rugved had earlier sent a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis requesting that his matter be dealt with promptly, however, when he received no response he decided a more serious course of action was necessary to get his point across. “Reducing the weight (burden) is the core remedy,” Rugved told reporters “It’s the first tiny step in the direction of resolving this issue.”
The day-long fast was staged on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and although he applied for police permission it was denied because of his young age. The dharna continued as planned and Rugved stood his ground on the issue saying, “I will go ahead with the agitation for the sake of thousands of students like me. After all, it is the question of health as well as the future of students,” Results of his demonstration are yet to been seen, but with luck this boy’s brave attempt to be heard will not go in vain.
Featured Image Courtesy rise.mahindra.com