Here is the good news! In a very progressive step, a village in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, has decided to reduce the spending on religious purposes to invest the money in developing schools.
As per The New Indian Express, the villagers, in an inspiring step, planned to upgrade their already existing school to “international standards”. Realizing how this village prioritize education over anything else is a ray of hope for a better society and a better country.
The villagers have bought a 2-acre land to expand the school premises. And in order to spend this money on upgrading the school, the villagers have decided to curtail the amount of money spent on various religious events, tents, sweets, and food, especially during ‘Bhagwat Saptaah’ which is a week-long event.
Therefore, during a religious feast, daal will be prepared and everyone has to bring their own portion of rotis.
But this isn’t the first time this village has taken steps towards development. Previously, a women and child care center, also known as an Anganwadi, was upgraded and digitalized, and so was the school’s computer laboratory.
The village officials have already started working towards upgrading the school premises. As the village has 450 houses, it is planned that each house under 5-acre, will contribute Rs 1,000 and those above 5 acres will contribute Rs 5,000.
Also, the panchayat has contributed Rs 50,000 till now. The villagers are also seeking help from the government and CSR schemes. One of a resident of the village shared:
“We have 240 students studying here so far. Students from nearby villages are also seeking admission for the next academic year.”
At IFORHER, we applaud the inspiring and progressive step of this village. We hope more would seek inspiration to adopt such a progressive step of focusing more on education than spending on religious events.
