Ilam, November 22:

Students in the northern part of Ilam district have taken to bunking classes and plucking cardamoms to raise money for their school expenses.

Milan Rai, a sixth grader at Jamuna-based Bhagawati Secondary School, said he has been bunking classes since a month and plucking cardamoms on contract. He is confident of earning enough to meet all school expenses for the next year.

Ninth grader Milan Rai (another school boy) is also on the go. Having taken a contract for plucking cardamom at the rate of Rs 18,000, he is also staying away from classes.

The duo have taken contracts on the cardamom orchards of a local farmer.

From Bhagawati School alone, more than 30 students are engaged in cardamom trade. Every year, students absent themselves from schools between October-December and go to pluck cardamom, said Raju Khatiwada, a teacher at National Primary School.

“For scores of students, this is the cardamom plucking season,” he said. Because of mass absenteeism, the studies other students also gets hampered, he added.

Pundya Prasad Khatiwada, a farmer in Jamuna, said he gives cardamom plucking contracts to students at the rate of Rs 9,000-10,000 per contract. Locals complained that schools get deserted around this time as the students prefer to bunk classes and pluck cardamom.