KARIMNAGAR: With protests increasingly becoming a language of the young, students across India — including schoolchildren — have been taking to the streets to demand better facilities and infrastructure. While adults may sometimes dismiss or overlook their concerns, children often have an instinctive sense of fairness, speaking not just for themselves but for the world they want to grow up in.
Adding to this is a Class 3 student’s video, in which she holds up a placard reading, “We want road(s) for everyone”. The video has gone viral, bringing a child’s everyday struggle into focus and reviving attention on a long-pending 18 km road project between Karimnagar and Rajanna-Sircilla districts.
Swethansi, a Class 3 student from Jangapalli village in Ganneruvaram mandal, says the battered road has made her daily journey to school difficult. She has appealed to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to intervene and expedite the road works, saying she and her classmates struggle to travel to school because of potholes and the poor condition of the road.
The 18 km stretch between Gundlapalli in Karimnagar district and Potthur in Rajanna-Sircilla district has remained a political issue, with leaders of both the ruling Congress and opposition BRS raising it at different times, particularly during elections in the Manakondur Assembly constituency. Despite promises over the past decade, the road works remain incomplete. Recent rains have worsened the stretch, with potholes and loose stones making travel hazardous for commuters.
Now, it is a child’s placard that has once again drawn attention to the road — a simple demand for something most would consider basic: roads that work, and work for everyone.