Sundargarh: The Adarsha Vidyalaya (Model School) constructed by the Tata Steel at Babu Nuagaon village under Kendrikela Panchayatof Boneigarh Block in Odisha’s Sundargarh district was inaugurated by the district collector Vineet Bhardwaj on Saturday.
Present on the occasion were Swadha Dev Singh, Sub-Collector, Bonai, MC Thomas, Executive-in-Charge, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel, Manikanta Naik, Chief Resident Executive, Bhubaneswar, Tata Steel,Sanjeev Jha, Executive-in-Charge, JUSCO,Rajesh Kumar, Head, Gomardih Dolomite Quarry, Tata Steel and others.
The school, along with the furnishings of the classrooms, has been constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 4.5 crore. Built by Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company (JUSCO), a Tata Steel Group of company, the two-story school building is spread across 24,600 square feet built-up area. It has 14 classrooms, furnished library, computer room, multi-purpose room, laboratories, teachers’ room, staff room, principal’s room, boys’ and girls’ toilets on each floor, prayer assembly point, etc.
Appreciating Tata Steel for the initiative, the Collector said such good educational infrastructure for Adarsha Vidyalaya in interior places like Bonaihgarh will go a long way in bringing quality education and harness the potential of meritorious students of the area in future.
Speaking on the occasion, Thomas said thatTata Steel is committed to continue its engagement with people of Odisha in education, as well as other sectors, as part of its endeavour to contribute to the state’s inclusive growth story. Including the school at Bonaigarh, the company has already handed over nine such schools to the state government while work is in progress in another 13 schools, which are part of total 30 schools Tata Steel is constructing, he added.
In order to make quality infrastructure available to students in far-flung areas in the state, Tata Steel has signed a MoU with the Odisha government to construct 30 model schools at an estimated cost of Rs 136 crore across the state.
This initiative by the steel major is part of the plan of the Odisha government to set up Adarsha Vidyalaya in each block in the state. Earlier, eight model schools at Danagadi, Kamakhyanagar, Nayagarh, Korei, Dasarathpur, Dharmashala, Jajpur and Hatadihi blocks, built by the Tata Steel, were handed over to the state government.
During current academic session, the company will hand over another eight schools while construction work is in progress in five sites and survey has been completed in 8 more sites.
Among others present on the occasion were Dhruba Charan Behera, DEO, Sundargarh, Ajay Sahaya, BEO, Bonai, representatives of media and local villagers.
