Relentlessly continuing their hunger strike for seven days, girl students of Rewari district in Haryana called off their protest on Wednesday, after the Haryana government yielded to their demand and announced upgradation of the village Government High School upto senior secondary level.

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Over 90 girl students from village Gothra Tappa Dahina village in Rewari had been protesting against the government demanding that the village Government High School be upgraded to a senior secondary level. As many as 13 students began a hunger strike on May 10 urging the government to fulfill their demand.

The girls complained that since the village school was only till Class 10, they had no option but to enrol in another school situated far away from the village, due to which many girls had to drop out after Class 10.

“We had been facing harassment from the youth from other villages who would ride on bikes and pass lewd remarks at us on our way to the school. They would be wearing helmets, so we could not even identify and complain against them. A liquor shop had also opened on the route, which made things all the more difficult for us. Sometimes, we were hesitant to complain or else we would had to drop out,” said one of the protesting students. The girls who had been sitting on hunger strike also received support from their parents, who also joined the protest in the village.

Heeding to the demand, Haryana Education Minister, Ram Bilas Sharma, announced on Wednesday that the Government High School in the village had been upgraded up to the level of senior secondary by relaxing certain rules. As per rules, a government school is required to have at least 150 students in Classes 9 and 10 to be eligible for upgradation, while the school had around 96 students.

While issuing the notification, Sharma said a principal has been deputed in the school and admission process will commence from May 18. Deputy Commissioner, of Rewari, Yash Garg, met the agitating girl students and gave them the notification letter, following which the students ended their hunger-strike.