Patna, Feb. 13: If Bihar Governor R.S. Gavai has his way, university teachers and students would soon take time out to teach Dalit students living in slums and rural pockets in the state.

Raj Bhavan has mooted a plan to adopt Dalit, and members of marginalised communities, and is accordingly co-ordinating with Bhojpur and Bhagalpur universities to put plans into action.

Though there will be no direct sponsorship from the Raj Bhavan, the governor’s office has started consulting with individuals, teachers and voluntary groups to start classes after taking the help of individual contributions.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Raj Bhavan’s officer on special duty Krishna Kumar said: “Our initiative is focused more towards bringing about a social change than sponsoring students. But, we would be giving books and uniforms, that should not cost much.”

He made it clear that Raj Bhavan has not allocated any separate fund for the proposed move.

Kumar, who visited Bhojpur (Ara) last December, said: “I saw boys and girls below 12 years and belonging to the Mushahar community (a Scheduled Caste) roaming around the roads with no schools to attend. Later, we picked up 30 such students, gave them uniforms and started teaching them by involving local individuals.”

Kumar discussed this move with Bihar Governor R.S. Gavai, who then suggested an expansion of the idea with direct participation of university teachers and students. “So far, we have received a strong response from Bir Kuwar Singh University Bhojpur and Tilka Manjhi University Bhagalpur. We will select 500 Mushahar students from Bhojpur and Bhagalpur to educate them,” he added.

He said students pursuing graduation courses at the two universities would take out time (on a rotation basis) to teach students, who would be enrolled in Classes III and IV in make-shift schools set up by volunteers.

Kumar added that one Rajesh Srivastava from Bhagalpur has approached the governor’s office to provide students with uniforms for Rs 111 each. Some individuals of Bhojpur have also come forward to support the mission - financially.

Volunteers will also collect one spoon of rice every day from teachers to feed the children. Governor Gavai, who was impressed by the success of similar scheme in his home state Maharashtra, hopes the initiative would be a success here too.