Raipur: The fairytale journey of Dantewada in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh, from epicenter of Maoist violence to an education city, in the last one and half decades has found mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme, aired on Sunday.In the 122nd episode of the programme, Mr. Modi said that in Dantewada, where Maoism was once at its peak, today the flag of education is flying high there.“I am extremely happy to know that the students in Dantewada district have fared extremely well in the 10th and 12th standard examinations. With nearly 95 percent result, this district topped the 10th standard results in Chhattisgarh. Whereas in the 12th standard examination, this district secured the sixth position in Chhattisgarh. Imagine! Dantewada, where Maoism was once at its peak… today the flag of education is flying high there. Such transformations fill us all with pride”, the PM said.Mr. Modi also mentioned the Bastar Olympics, held recently in the Leftwing extremism-affected Bastar division comprising seven districts of Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma, recently, and the science labs in the Maoist-affected areas.“The children here are passionate about science. They are also doing great in sports. Such efforts reflect how courageous the people living in these areas are. These people have chosen the path of improving their lives amidst so many challenges”, he said.Dantewada had witnessed several major attacks on security personnel in the district in the last one and half decades.More than 100 schools in the rural belt in the district were destroyed with improvised explosive device (IED) explosions by the Maoists, depriving the tribal children in the remote areas of basic education for years.Later, the Chhattisgarh government had set up portable cabins, made of bamboo and barbed wires, famously known as ‘pota cabins’ on the roadsides as residential schools to provide basic education to the tribal children living in remote areas in the district.In 2011, an Education City was built on 150 acres in Dantewada at a cost of Rs 100 crore to provide education from KG to PG and technical education.The Education City has 13 different institutions which include an engineering college, an industrial training institute (ITI), a special school for tribal girls, a Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya and a sports school.The Education City also caters to the children that come from the underprivileged sections of Dantewada and the surrounding villages, providing them with education free of cost.“Aastha”, a boarding school in the Education City, is home to 800 children, a few of whose parents were killed in the Naxal violence.‘Saksham’ is an institute that is home to children with disabilities.