Facilitate IDP children for higher education in India

V. Anandasangaree, TULF leader in a letter to Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad requested him to evolve a scheme with the concurrence of Sri Lankan Government and in consultation with the Indian Government to enable a few displaced children to pursue their studies in India. The letter:

"I take this opportunity to thank you for taking prompt action on various occasions, to bring to the notice of your Government the need for urgent humanitarian assistance for victims during the times of national calamities and such other occasions when such assistance was badly needed. We recollect with gratitude how medical-aid was flown in, within hours of the tsunami, followed by further aid. We also appreciate the good gesture of both the Central Government and the State Government of Tamil Nadu in providing relief for displaced families.

I need not point out to you as to what extent the education of children of the Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts in full and parts of all the other districts in the North and East, got interrupted due to various reasons such as schoolchildren compelled to take part in demonstrations, frequent displacement of families, children keeping away from school for fear of conscription etc. There are many children who had been selected to follow various courses at the Universities also not given permission to leave Vanni areas under the control of the LTTE and so with many, who have the required qualification to follow degree courses in India, not allowed to leave Vanni. There are also very clever children who could not go beyond Grade 10 for the same reasons, though qualified to join pre-University courses.

I kindly request you to evolve a scheme with the concurrence of the Sri Lankan Government and in consultation with your Government to enable a few such children to pursue their studies in India, the opportunity they were either denied or missed, in their country for no fault of theirs. Further more, the Sri Lankan Government, being fully engaged in the process of resettlement of the displaced families, may take some time to consider the problems of higher education of these children.

The assistance of the Tamil Nadu State Government too could be obtained.