Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for construction of buildings for the Ekalavya Model Residential School at Majjivalasa village of Bondam panchayat of Araku Valley mandal in the district, through the virtual mode, on Monday.
Social development is possible only through education in the modern world, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Project Officer Ronanki Gopalakrishna has said.
Addressing a meeting organised on the occasion, he said that foundation stones were laid for construction of three school buildings at Lakeputtu of Pedabayalu mandal, P.G. Madugula of G. Madugula, apart from Majjivalasa. The construction of the buildings would be taken up at a cost of ₹5.976 crore. He said that the Central and the State governments were according top priority to education and the foundation was laid to mark the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations and the birth anniversary of tribal leader Bhagavan Birsa Munda.
Mr. Gopalakrishna said that education would contribute to building an egalitarian society apart from helping the tribal people in finding solutions to their problems easily. He said the foundation has been laid for providing education to 5,000 tribal boys and girls on the lines of ‘Navodaya’ schools. The Centre has fixed the deadline for construction of the school buildings in 14 months time.
He appreciated the tribal people of Anantagiri and Paderu mandals, who voluntarily donated lands for construction of the buildings. Skill Development Cell and Tourism Cell would be opened by the ITDA for providing employment opportunities to unemployed tribal youth. Job melas would be conducted once in 15 days.
Gurukul Secretary K. Srikanth Prabhakar described the proposed establishment of ‘Ekalavya Schools’ as a boon to the tribal children. AP was the first State to complete land acquisition for setting of these schools. Each Ekalavya School would have 52 teachers to provide quality education to the students. He said that 27 students from Paderu had secured seats in IITs.
The students presented cultural programmes on the occasion.
EPIL Director Radhakrishna, Group General Manager Arundathi Bhowmik, TWSE S. Srinivas, Tahsildar Venugopal and MPDO Venkata Rambabu were among those who attended.
