MANGALURU:For students of the government school in remote Ragihaklu village in Karnataka’s Udupi district , Mahadeva Manja is not just their teacher. He is also the driver who ferries them safely to and from school in his own car. But for Manja’s ‘transport service’, 20-odd students would have dropped out.Manja is the head teacher of the school with 94 students in Baindoor taluk. The school is 4km from the Souparnika river and students have to walk through a forested stretch. Manja realised the kids were finding it difficult to trek to school and parents would have to keep them at home.Mahadeva Manja is also the driver who ferries them safely to and from school in his own car.“Our village doesn’t have proper public transportation and during the monsoon, the stretch is unsafe for children. The number of admissions has been dropping. To stem this, I started this initiative,” says Manja. He picks up 20 kids, including eight girls, from the river bank. In the evening, he ensures they return safely.Now, when Manja is unavailable, some other teacher or member of the school committee helps the kids.

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