Ninety and odd students of Durgawati block in Kaimur district would have a smooth sail to their classrooms from Monday in a country boat, donated by a non-government organisation on Sunday.
Lions Club International (RLLI 2014-batch) handed the boat with a capacity to ferry 20 people at a time to a five-member committee at Machkhian village, around 180km southwest of Patna, in the presence of deputy development commissioner of Kaimur Amrendra Shahi, deputy collector, land reforms, Suraj Kumar Singh and Durgawati block development officer Rabinder Kumar. Four representatives of the club - Anand Kumar Jain (Calcutta), Sanjay Kumar Awasthi, Anshu Awasthi (all from Patna) and Alok Kumar Yayaswi (Muzaffarpur) also took part in the function.
The club members spent Rs 1.35 lakh in purchasing the boat. Another Rs 30,000 was spent in its transportation.
The Lions Club International (RLLI 2014-batch) made the noble gesture within two weeks of The Telegraph reporting on how students from different villages under Durgawati block swam across a river to reach Machkhian government middle school, around 25km from Bhabua, the district headquarters. The students of a Plus Two school on the same premises would also benefit from the boat.
Visibly pleased with the new arrangement, Class VII student Priyanka Kumari (13) said: "I don't know if others would be able to perceive the great feeling of sitting in dry clothes in the classroom."
Class VIII student Ravi Kumar Singh (14) was relieved. "I am very happy today (Sunday) because I was assigned to monitor the children swimming across the river reached the other side safely. I have been relieved of the job."
Equally pleased was his principal Brij Raj Singh. "Now, the students will be able to study properly," he said, thanking the Lions Club International (RLLI 2014-batch) members for their noble deed.
A resident of 125 Cotton Street in Calcutta, Lions Club International (RLLI 2014-batch) member Jain said: "I was so impressed by the students' will power to study despite the odds that I decided to meet them personally."
