Dehradun: Setting an example for people living in hilly areas who often wait for the administration to take care of even minor works, residents of Kyark Barsuri village in Rudraprayag district have managed to rebuild a portion of a local school within 15 days. After collecting money from all residents, the villagers started the work of rebuilding an abandoned room at a government primary school (Rajkiya Prathmik Vidyalaya) located in Agastyamuni block.The school, with three teachers and 44 students, has just two classrooms. Both the rooms are in dilapidated condition. On most days, either water leaks from the ceiling or plaster on the walls comes apart. Realising that the conditions were not fit for their children, the villagers informed the authorities. However, no action was taken in the matter. That was when the thought of reconstructing the abandoned room first occoured to them.On August 7, after a part of the 55-year-old school’s roof collapsed due to heavy rainfall and 21 students and a teacher had a narrow escape, the villagers realised that they can’t wait any further. The school headmistress, Vijoya Chamola, said, “We were all lucky to have survived. We immediately informed the administration, but were told that the repair work would take time.”A panchayat was convened on August 11 and village pradhan Harsila Devi appealed to everyone to donate money for rebuilding the room. To her surprise, everyone, ranging from a retired Army officer to a widow, made donations. “The district magistrate was made aware about the problem some time back. He told us to present an estimate which would be considered and money would be released. We all know how time-consuming these processes are so we decided to do it on our own. It took us some time to collect the required amount and get building material. Work was started on August 22 and the room was rebuild on September 6,” said the village pradhan.“The children will always be thankful to their elders. It was scary to stay inside the classroom with so many kids now we will have a new room to hold classes,” said assistant teacher Deepak Bhatt.

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