BHUBANESWAR: Worried by the growing noise pollution that could disturb your children's studies? Have patience. A group of volunteers in Bhadrak district has come out with a unique solution to tackle this problem.

To help students cope with noise, a competition titled Reading In Disturbing Atmosphere (RIDA) is being organised among different schools near Brahmanagar area of Bhadrak district.

As per the guidelines, 10 students from each school could form a team and participate in the competition. They are asked to sit at demarcated place and to answer 10 short questions. Teachers of the respective disciplines play the role of umpire.

Before putting them to test, organisers hand over small stories on spiritualism or a topic from their textbooks to practice. During studying phase, noises including dances, television programmes or devotional songs are organised within a distance of 15 feet. In order to make the competition interesting, the organisers have drafted a few lingoes such as `bullet, rocket and missile' for putting questions or identifying correct answers. The best scorers are honoured as RIDA star.

"RIDA is a crucial project for implementation of spiritual-based education in the State as well as all over the country. It elevates the value of education far more than certificate based education," Muni Rabindra Kumar, who worked out the project, said.

Good response

On its third year of implementation, the organisers claim that there has been encouraging response from the students who found their concentration power growing due to exercise. "Noise is too big problem to tackle. It has entrenched in our lifestyle so deep that you cannot do away with it. If parents watch television programmes or a family stays near cinema hall, the children don't have any option but to adjust with the ambience. The attempt is to make society aware of the situation as well as enable students find their way out," he said. The organisers also claimed that resources needed for innovative project were mobilised through donations from people. The number of schools participating in the competition has been increasing.

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