MUMBAI: Around 25,000 tribal students have been roped in to welcome Congress presidentSonia Gandhi, who will launch a rural health project for children in Palghar on February 6.
But parents of students from 13 villages in the taluka have decided to boycott the function and keep their children away to protest against the lack of basic amenities like roads in their localities.
Sonia will launch a National Rural Health Missionproject in Palghar at Jeevan Vikas School. The local Congress unit has invited the students to participate in the rally.
A resident of Maswan village said, "Our roads are in a bad shape. But they want our children to be part of all government programmes."
The villagers of Kirat, Katale, Maswan, Bahadoli, Dhuktan, Lovre, Vandivi, Kharshet, Nihe, Nagzari and Dahisar have been demanding basic infrastructure for two decades. "State transport buses don’t ply here in our villages due to the bad roadsconditions. Even ambulances cannot come here. The local authorities do nothing," said a villager.
Tribal development minister and Palghar MLA Rajendra Gavit said, that he was aware about the plan to boycott the programme. students and parents boycotting the programme.
"The scheme is being launched for tribal students and they should be present." said Gavit.