Residents of Kasamshel, Bethora, are concerned about the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) project on their cultivated land, fearing it will negatively impact their livelihoods and have advocated for a balwadi and primary school instead. Yuganda Gaude, a villager, highlighted the need for a school, recalling her own childhood struggles of travelling three kilometres to the primary school at Codar.
The villagers, including around 40 tenant families and Other Backward Classes (OBC), are united in their desire for a primary school in their locality. A sixty-year-old villager expressed the community’s panic and sleepless nights since learning about the proposed IIT at Codar, fearing eviction.
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Many locals have purchased tenanted land within the proposed IIT area and are worried about their future if they lose their cultivated land. He explained the current challenges faced by children, who travel long distances on isolated roads to attend school, risking attacks from animals. This has forced parents and relatives to accompany their children to school. The villagers demand that the government prioritise the construction of a primary school and balwadi in Kasamshel to alleviate these struggles, rather than proceeding with the IIT project. They asserted, “We don’t need IIT; give us balwadi and primary school.”
