Legendary actor Rajinikanth’s alma mater is all set to get a facelift.
The Government Model Primary School at Gavipuram will be completely refurbished into a two-floored building with a capacity of 1000 students at a cost of `1.
53 crore in sixmonths time.
On Sunday, construction works for the new school building was flagged off by BJP General Secretary HN Ananth Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok, Basavanagudi MLA L A Ravisubramanya and Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy.
The Education Department has pitched in `81.
5 lakh, while `25 lakh has come from the MP funds and `20 lakh from MLA funds.
Around `27 lakh has been raised through donations.
“The school will be demolished and a new building will come up in its place.
The construction should not take more than six months.
In this time, the 156 students of the school will be accommodated in the nearby Corporation Girls High School,” said South-1 Block Education Officer Kempaiah.
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, who came to be known as Rajinikanth, studied in this school from 1954 to 1959.
An association of his fans, Karnataka State Rajiniji Seva Samithi, had been requesting improvement of the school for the last 5 years.
“Rajinikanth studied here and went on to become an international star.
This is a happy moment for all his fans here.
We wish this school can become the best in the state,” said Rajini Murugan G, president of the association.
Rajinikanth himself has not yet made any donations to the school.
“We expect donations from him once the school is ready in its new form,” Murugan said.
Whose Land is it Anyway?
The famous Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple and the Gosayi Mahasamsthana Mutt are in the neighbourhood.
However, there were tense moments during the inauguration of the construction works.
The Mutt seer Sureshwarananda Bharathi, in his address, said the school stood on the Mutt’s land, which enraged members of the audience.
“This is not the Mutt’s land! The school is standing on government land,” shouted members of the audience, who are said to be the former students of the school.
The agitated members proceeded towards the dais aggressively, only to be stopped by Ravisubramanya and Ashok.
“This is not the forum for us to talk about whose land this is.
The school belongs to the government and all of us.
Let us accept it,” Ashok said.