Jamshedpur, July 2: A library without books at Patamda Inter College, 40km from the steel city, has always been blamed for students faring poorly. But, things are about to change now.
Stockholding Corporation of India Ltd - the government-owned depository and custodian of securities - recently donated Rs 3.35 lakh to the college to buy books under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.
With the money, the college bought 3,000 new books in science, arts and commerce.
The college, which recorded a pass percentage of barely 50 in science, 67 in arts and 83 in commerce this year, hopes to perform better with its upgraded library.
The fortunes of the college changed last month when social entrepreneur Sourabh Mahato helped officials of Stockholding Corporation get in touch with the college.
"We have been doing CSR activities primarily in education, skill development and sanitation. When we learnt about the condition of the college, we decided to help. We are happy that students can benefit from it," Manoj Borkar, head of CSR at Stockholding Corporation, said over phone from Mumbai.
The CSR funding has been a godsend for around 1,400 students of the college, which is affiliated with Jharkhand Academic Council and receives financial aid from the state government.
Established in 1984, the college had seen students - mainly from rural hubs and poor families - dropping out midway because they couldn't afford to buy books prescribed in the syllabus.
"The college library never changed or upgraded books. Most of us come from farming backgrounds and somehow continued our studies by borrowing books. Our senior students and teachers helped our batch with all the books they had. But, we could have performed better if the library had been upgraded a couple of years ago," said Priya Soren, an alumnus who passed her intermediate this year.
She also added the science laboratories needed a major overhaul.
Principal Chandan Kumar Das said the lack of funds had been a major constraint in buying books. "I am happy for students now. They can now borrow books from the library. We have also issued them library cards, a system that wasn't in place before," the principal said.