Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Nov 16: In a lifetime experience for them, a group of tribal school children from a remote far-flung village of Chhattisgarh exuded incredible excitement when a request by them was accepted to allow them to visit the high security area of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the South Block here today. The children, who were accompanied by their teachers and coordinators, had travelled to the district headquarter of Narayanpur and then to the State capital Raipur for their maiden railway journey to Delhi and most of them had seen a train for the first time, only during this journey.
Delhi based Resident Commissioner of Chhattisgarh, Sanjay Kumar Ojha and Deputy Collector Narayanpur Dr. Santosh Kumar Devangan, who accompanied the children, said that they were all great admirers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and felt ecstatic whenever they sat to hear the PM’s “Mann Ki Baat” on the community radio / TV put up for them in their school. They said, the children were highly inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and always cherished the wish to be able to see him in person.
During over one-and-a-half hour visit to the PMO, the children had a stimulating interaction with Union Minister of State PMO with independent charge of Northeast, Dr Jitendra Singh, who personally accompanied them around the corridors of the PMO and explained the various facets of the historic building.
The children were particularly amused when Dr Jitendra Singh told them that the South Block building, in which PMO is located, was nearly 90 years old and normally this is a prohibited area for routine tourists or visitors. He said, he had himself also visited the South Block building for the first time only over two years ago when he was assigned the job of MoS PMO and therefore, these children were many times luckier than him to have been blessed with this opportunity while they were still in school.
During the interaction, children raised some of the issues and problems faced by them in their area, which is very backward with inadequate healthcare and sanitation facilities. In addition, the area was also known to be affected by left-wing violence/militancy.
Dr Jitendra Singh assured the children that he will convey their sentiments to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also show the pictures of their visit to the PM. He also offered certain suggestions regarding the issues raised by the children and their tribal families and said, he would follow-up the same with the Delhi-based Resident Commissioner of Chhattisgarh.
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