When locals lamented the condition of the government school where he studied and complained about a dilapidated infrastructure, the managing director of a global company would not abandon hope. He decided to make a donation in the form of CSR and give the government high school in Sarakki, South Bengaluru the basic amenities it required.  

It was a nostalgic moment for VN Reddy, the managing director of British Biologicals, a nutraceutical company that has helped give a government school in the city a facelift as a tribute to the institute providing education to the underprivileged. British Biologicals made a donation of Rs 2.25 crore as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility activities, with which the school’s infrastructure and furniture are being refurbished.

Today, in place of an old dilapidated school building, a four-storey new building with state of the art equipment and furniture has been constructed, which Reddy believes is on par with modern private schools in the vicinity.

The project was executed under the Karnataka government’s – Marali Shaalege Baa (Back to School) – scheme. Minister for primary and secondary education C N Nagesh, local MLA Sowmya Reddy also attended the event of the formal inauguration of the newly constructed structure which was held on Friday.  

Reddy recollected that during one of his visits to the school, he found that the building was dilapidated and was about to crumble on its own. Hearing many residents expressing severe concerns about the safety of their wards, a concerned Reddy decided to do something about it.

On the occasion, Nagesh said that the state government will soon fill 5,000 teachers vacancies across the state to bridge the gap between teachers and students ratio in the state.  “We are coming out with a new scheme – Namma Shaale Namma Koduge (Our School Our Contribution) – to help schools that require funds. As we all are aware that Covid – 19 has wreaked havoc all over the world for the last two years and the education sector has also been affected adversely due paucity of funds in state finances,” the minister said and added that the state government was also planning to come out with an App to keep track of donors as well as funds.  

This year nearly 150 more students enrolled into the school and this can be attributed to the facility upgrade and provision of well-equipped labs and computers provided,” he said. 

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