Author:
Publications: Gomantak Times, Panaji,
Goa
Date: May 9, 2001
With an aim of 'ensuring safety'
of the country's frontiers, the VHP has ventured onto a grand plan of setting
up its schools in border areas to counter 'any type of anti-national activity'
there.
'Securing the country's borders
is one of the four challenges the other three being untouchability, caste
discrimination and illiteracy and VHP has to address these,' the organisation's
general secretary Pravinbhai Togadia told PTI here.
Stating that VHP intended to meet
these challenges through 'social service,' he said 'ekal vidyalaya (one-teacher
schools)' would be set up across the country, particularly the border areas.
"These schools will create mass
awareness and national sentiments which will help counter any type of anti-national
activity, including infiltration and drug smuggling,' Togadia said adding
the activities of Pakistan's ISI would also be checked in the process.
Such schools have already been set
up in Uttar Pradesh along the Nepal border and are being started along
the Punjab border, he said. Next on the list are border areas of Jammu
and Kutch in Gujarat.
Disclosing that work on this project
had started about six months back, he reasoned that VHP undertook this
task 'as the government cannot be everywhere.'
