On a quiet road in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district, traffic came to a standstill on Saturday as a 10-year-old girl blocked the road in protest after her school van failed to arrive.
Surabhi Yadav, a Class 5 student, sat in the middle of the road clutching her school bag tightly and refused to move for three hours. Vehicles waited and drivers watched as the child refused to move.
Yadav, a student enrolled under the Right to Education Act, travels nearly 18 kilometres daily to reach her school. "She kept saying she wants to go to school," one resident said. "She didn't shout or cry loudly. She just sat there."
The school management had discontinued the van service for Surabhi after her family allegedly failed to pay transportation fees for the last two years. The school maintains that the van service is fee-based and that repeated reminders were ignored.
The student's mother Asha Yadav said, "My daughter was admitted under the Right to Education Act. The school didn't allow her to attend classes for the entire year. Then they let her study for just 28 days in November, and stopped her again. Today they leave her on the road. She is under immense stress. She cries."
The situation caused traffic disruption, and commuters struggled to pass. After receiving information, the Chicholi police reached the spot and spoke to the child. Education department officials also arrived and assured her that they would speak to the school management. After nearly three hours, the girl finally stood up and left the road.
The school management later claimed that the parents themselves had stopped sending the child to school. They also alleged that the driver was misbehaved with during the incident.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
