Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Wayanad MP, has warned that attempts to relocate the Paniya and Adiya tribal students of Government Ashram High School, Thirunelli, to a model residential school at Aralam in Kannur district will lead to widespread dropouts.
In a letter to O.R. Kelu, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, Ms. Vadra cautioned that no student should be shifted out of Thirunelli without their consent. A large number of students were reported to have expressed their unwillingness to relocate from Thirunelli to Aralam.
The Thirunelli school, housing around 250 students across Classes one to 10, is Wayanad’s sole residential institution dedicated exclusively to Paniya and Adiya tribal children.
News of the school authorities cramming 120 girls in three classrooms with only one toilet, after their hostel was declared unsafe in July, sparked protests on Wednesday. Although the government had decided to relocate the children to the newly constructed Model Residential School at Aralam, the transfer move was delayed for months because of lack of power supply.
Mr. Kelu, who hails from Thirunelli and was president of that panchayat for two terms, on Thursday claimed that he was behind the relocation decision, but he sounded vague about when it will be implemented.
Asking Mr. Kelu to reconsider his decision to move the children outside their district, Ms. Vadra demanded that the Scheduled Tribes Development department (STDD), under which the school functions, shift the students to a “suitable place within Wayanad, and ensure that they have access to quality sports infrastructure.”
On Wednesday, soon after the tribal girls’ squalid living conditions were exposed, a team of officials of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) visited the school and examined the conditions there. The team spoke to the students and staff, and is learnt to have reported to the higher authorities.
As an immediate response, 32 girls from the school were shifted to a model residential school at Kaniyambetta, 37 km away, on Thursday. The district administration set up five bio-toilets at the school.
The BJP and the Congress took out separate marches to Mr. Kelu’s office at Mananthavady, protesting against the neglect.
Published – October 23, 2025 09:23 pm IST
