Bored at home? Not anymore. Panchayat gifts toy boxes to kids

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid the Covid-related healthcare responsibilities, a panchayat is taking up earnest efforts to stave off the boredom of its children missing schools and outdoor games. After giving mini-home libraries to 200 students, the Pullampara grama panchayat is now distributing toy boxes to 1,200-odd primary school students. 

“We are doing our bit to make the children happy. Most of them are confined to their homes ever since the onset of the pandemic last year. The toy box will be a relief to them,” said panchayat president Rajesh PV. All primary and upper primary school students living in the panchayat, irrespective of their school’s location or family’s economic status, will be presented with the toy box. Rajesh said that the box contains fun and learning toys like snake and ladder, ludo, chess, skipping rope and a ball. Besides, lower primary school children will get ‘bricks and blocks’ and upper primary students a Chinese tangram.

The idea was conceived by the 46-year-old panchayat president. Twenty per cent of the project cost is met by the panchayat and the remaining by IT company QBurst as part of its CSR initiative.

“Each box contains items worth around Rs 500. The project cost would be between Rs 4.5 and Rs 5 lakh,” Rajesh said. Under the home library project, fully funded by the panchayat, a beautiful shelf and books were distributed to 200 children picked by the local grama sabhas. The project cost was Rs 3.25 lakh. The panchayat has also launched a mobile library for children and adults. Free membership is given and each of the 15 wards has an average of hundred subscribers.