Eight poor Bihari girls fly to Japan

Eight poor mahadalit Girls have got a reason to smile, thanks to the visionary CM Mr.Nitish Kumar.They are flying off to Japan to participate in the International Martial Arts championship later this month.
The girls are – Abhilasha Kumari, Lakshmi, Aarti, Sahanu, Nirmala, Jitni, Dulari and Kavita.They recently took part in an international karate tournament held in Gujarat and won five gold and silver medals along with 14 bronze.
Sudha Varghese, who would accompany these girls along with an official from the state government’s social welfare department, said they would take part in the championships between September 19 and 26.
These girls stay in a hostel run under the aegis of Varghese’s NGO Nari Gunjan in collaboration with the Bihar Mahadalit Development Mission.
Varghese, a Padma Shree for her social work among the Mahadalit communities in Bihar, said all 125 girls in the hostel are trained daily in karate and other martial arts. “This is an example of woman empowerment in the real sense.”
More than 350 participants from different countries of South Asia had taken part in the championships at Nanded, where the girls from Bihar had impressed everybody with their skills. “Sixteen of our girls had taken part in the championships and eight of them are going to Japan now,” Varghese added.
Lauding their achievement, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the Mahadalit children from the state were the repository of talent but were not getting opportunities in the past to prove their mettle. “Their talent is now coming to the fore because they are getting the chance,” he said.
Nitish said the Mahadalit girls would also be trained in shooting at the Kalyanbigha range in Nalanda district. The government set it up to nurture the talent in the villages of the state. “There are immense opportunities in this field, too” he said.
“It offers a lot of scope to travel abroad.” Two years ago, the state government had started imparting training in karate to schoolgirls to instill self- confidence in them and make learning enjoyable. Approximately six lakh girl students of classes VI, VII and VIII were offered ‘yellow belts’ in karate through a training programme launched by the Bihar Education Project across the state.