Kanker Villagers Pool In Resources To Resurrect Dilapidated School Building
Concerned over the safety of the children, the villagers went in for construction of a hut like concrete structure for the School.
Published : July 31, 2025 at 2:24 PM IST
Kanker: In an episode reflecting the plight of education in the villages in the Naxal affected areas, the villagers of Pondgaon in Kanker district in Chhattisgarh have started rebuilding a dilapidated school building with their own resources.
The villagers collected money amongst themselves with some help from the Panchayat after their pleas to the administration and elected representatives had fallen on deaf ears.
The concern was safety of the children who were studying in a dilapidated building of the Primary School in Patel Para of Pondgaon. The School caters to the children of the adjoining villages as well.
The villagers disclosed that the children were scared to go to the School and even the parents were not willing to risk the lives of their wards by sending them to the unsafe building marked by leading roof and peeling plaster.
They sought help from the district administration several times to repair the building but no help came their way. The story was the same with the public representatives.
The villagers then held a meeting where the Panchayat gave them Rs 70,000 and they went around collecting the rest through donations.
“The School is being constructed by Shramdan wherein the labour does not take wages. The building has been in a poor condition for many years,” said the Sarpanch of Pondgaon, Gram Panchayat Besnarayan Baghel.
Concerned over the safety of the children, the villagers went in for construction of a hut like concrete structure for the School.
“Our children study in the Primary School of Patel Para. The School building was in such a shape that even their school bags became wet during the rains. Both the teachers and the children were worried about an accident taking place anytime. Seeing this danger we collected donations and built a new building. More money will be spent on this. It may take some time for the work to be completed,” pointed out a villager Rajendra Kumar Markam.
The villagers disclosed that the Primary School was built in Pondgaon in 2010 and within 14 years the building was marked by dangerous cracks on the walls. They said that somehow they convinced the children to sit in Gondwana Bhawan community hall last year while promising to build a new structure for their education.
“The villagers donated Rs 100 to Rs 200. Bricks, cement and iron pipes have been bought from the donation money. We want to educate our children in a safe place,” said President of the School Committee Tileshwar Bhardwaj.
While the Panchayat donated Rs 70,000 through the Sarpanch the villagers pooled in another Rs 40,000 for the purpose.
The residents of Pondgaon are into farming and manual labour. Since they were unable to raise huge funds, they decided to build the structure themselves, saving on the labour cost. The building is almost in its final stage.
“Last year the School was run in the community hall of the village but there was no space there as well this year. The villagers appealed for help at many places but did not get any,” said a District Panchayat member Gupesh Usendi who is from the village.
District Collector Nilesh Kumar Mahadev Kshirsagar disclosed that the administration has been told about the development. “We have immediately asked the personnel of the Technical Department to evaluate the entire situation. We will help the School according to the orders received. The state government has also ordered sanctioning of new buildings wherever a school or anganwadi is dilapidated.”
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