PARVATHIPURAM-MANYAM: Fed up with the government’s negligence in completing the school building, the residents of Gajulaguda village under Komarada Mandal have taken matters into their own hands by constructing the building themselves, pooling money from fellow villagers.
Though the previous YSRCP government sanctioned a school building with an estimated cost of Rs 5.5 lakh under the Nadu-Nedu scheme, the contracting agency abandoned the work midway. As a result, teachers have been forced to conduct classes for as many as 55 students in a single-room.
Moved by the students’ hardships during the rainy season, the villagers recently pooled at least Rs 50,000 from 110 households and resumed the pending construction.
Villagers raise Rs 50,000 for school building, work resumes
Gajulaguda is a tribal hamlet under Kimiseela Gram Panchayat in Komarada Mandal, home to around 110 tribal residents. Despite having five teachers and 55 students, the school operates from a single room. Consequently, Classes 1 to 3 are conducted inside the room, Class 4 is held in the corridor, and Class 5 under the open sky.
Although the previous government sanctioned Rs 5.5 lakh for a new building under the Nadu-Nedu scheme, the project was left incomplete by the contractor. Multiple appeals by the villagers to ITDA officials and local elected representatives have yielded no results. Determined to address the issue, the villagers decided to complete the pending masonry work on their own.
They began collecting donations of Rs 400 to Rs 500 from each household and also volunteered their labour to support the construction. A total of Rs 50,000 has been raised, and the masonry work resumed on Monday.
Speaking to TNIE, K Malleswararao of Gajulaguda said, “We have 55 students and five teachers in our village, but only one room for all five classes. Teachers are forced to conduct Classes 1 to 3 inside the room, Class 4 in the corridor, and Class 5 outside. Both students and teachers suffer, especially during heavy rains, and classes are often cancelled. Though a new building was sanctioned, the contractor left the job midway. So, we decided to take up work ourselves,”