Rautahat, October 25

Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut Gaddhi has said his government is serious about ending illiteracy in the province.

“When it comes to human development index, Province 2 ranks the last among the seven provinces and it is all due to lack of education,” said the chief minister, addressing an educational awareness conclave organised by Jamiat Ulama -E- Nepal in Rautahat headquarters Gaur today.

“The Muslim population makes up 12 per cent of the total population of the province, and as we here have been robbed of our rights by the central government, I urge you not to make any plea with the central government as long as you have the provincial government here,” he told the gathering.

Further, the CM criticised the central government for scrapping public holidays for festivals such as Id, Bakra Id, Bhai Tika and Chhath. “The central government unfairly scrapped holidays on these important festivals of ours, but we don’t have to plead against these insensitive decisions as the provincial government has decided to grant holidays on these occasions,” he remarked. The CM also stressed the need to send girls to schools.

“As the governments in the past exploited and suppressed the Madhesi, indigenous nationalities, women and Muslim, the same is to blame for this backwardness in education in the province. Now we have the provincial government, we are committed to doing the needful to make one and all here educated,” he said.

Minister of Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel informed that the national government had brought various action plans to end illiteracy.

“Around 50 per cent of out-of-school kids in the country are in Province-2 alone. So, the central government is committed to moving ahead in cooperation with the provincial government to end this situation here,” he said.