Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Jul 6: Nearly 1.5 lakh tribal children from four districts of Maharashtra have launched a postcard campaign urging the state government to provide free and compulsory education to every child up to the age of 18 years.

As part of the week-long awareness campaign organised by tribal rights organisation Shramjeevi Sanghatana, children from tribal areas in Palghar, Thane, Nashik and Raigad wrote postcards addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On Jul. 2, the children posted the postcards in nearby postboxes, handed them over to local postmasters or deposited them in specially decorated collection boxes set up at their schools.

The postcards carried a simple appeal to the chief minister, stating: "Dear Devabhau, only you can provide free and compulsory education to every child in the state of Maharashtra up to the age of 18."

According to Shramjeevi Sanghatana, nearly 1.5 lakh children participated in the campaign, which concluded with the posting of the postcards on Thursday.

Representatives of the organisation also met Fadnavis on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum along with an oversized replica of the children's postcard to press their demand.

While the Right to Education (RTE) Act currently guarantees free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14, the organisation has urged the Maharashtra government to extend the provision to cover all children between the ages of three and 18.

The organisation said such a move would be in line with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and recommendations made by NITI Aayog regarding universal access to senior secondary education.