Govt apathy plentiful in Mapao Thangal village
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 29 2011:
Despite its multi-ethnic composition people living in Mapao Thangal village are deprived of basic amenities including absence of educational institution.
Settled by people belonging to the Thangal, Tangkhul, Meitei, Nepali and Liangmei communities, Mapao Thangal village with about 300 population is yearning for development infrastructure with the children being the worst victims of under-development.
With no school in the village including absence of the much-vaunted Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan that aims for mandatory education of the children, students have to walk atleast 3 kilometres to pursue education at the nearest Government junior school located at Mapao Khullen.
After completing studies upto class V at the lone Government Junior School, the students have to pursue further academic pursuit upto class VIII at the privately-run Mount Harmant English School from where any further higher studies would mean that the students leave home for studying at educational institutions located in Senapati, Kangpokpi, sekmai or Potshangbam areas.
According to Mapao Thangal village Church secretary namely KD Solomon the State Government had approved setting up of a Government school at the village in 1980 but the basic facility is yet to materialise till date.
Solomon attributed lack of educational facility in the village for the fact that only two persons hailing from Mapao Thangal village are employed in the Government department.
Ruing absence of health care facility, he informed that whenever medical attention is needed the patient have to be taken to medical centres at Imphal or Sekmai as the nearest medical centre at the Khonangpokpi Primary Health Centre is mostly deserted owing to lack of proper equipment as well as absence of the medical personnel.
Despite majority of villagers embracing Christianity the village, ironically has no Church of its own with the community hall serving the dual purpose of congregation for religious occasions, Solomon maintained and confided that a proposal to a Christian organisation called Nehemiah Ministry for financial assistance to construct a Church is yet to evoke a positive response.
He further disclosed that Mapao Thangal villagers are planning to sell a portion of its hill tract to a Sekmai individual so that the money from the sale could be utilised for the Church construction.
It is informed that with the exception of only one family, all the children are attending school either at the village or the nearby Mapao Khullen.
The only child deprived of education is said to be 7-year old Nganthoi, whose parents could not afford to bear the cost of educating her.
Nganthoi's parents reportedly moved in to the hilly village when her grand-mother decided to settle there some 30 years back.
Talking to The Sangai Express the grand-mother namely Rashi (50) conceded that with agriculture, and collection of fire-wood and house building materials the only source of income generation educating her grand-daughter had been a challenging task for her parents.
She, nevertheless, hoped that a Government school will come up in the village so that children like Nganthoi could have atleast basic education.
Nganthoi's mother is informed to have passed away due to Tuberculosis when she was only two months old.
Her mother was the eldest daughter of Rashi, who had been looking after Nganthoi as the girl's father is staying at Jiribam along with two other sisters of Nganthoi.
Another grand-daughter of Rashi is an inmate of an orphanage centre at Lei-ingkhol as two-square meals daily for the siblings could not be guaranteed, the elderly woman confessed adding that rainy seasons are the worst period for her as most of the income generating activities come to a grinding halt.At times of difficulties, Rashi said she approaches the villagers for assistance.
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