Deepkamal Kaur
Phagwara, April 3
From a completely ramshackle building to a plush new complex, Government Senior Secondary School at Lakhpur village here has undergone a major makeover in its structure with the NRIs donating over Rs 2 crore for the purpose.
From laboratories for computer, English, mathematics and vocational trades, the classes have been equipped with projectors and smart boards provided by the education department.
But the irony is that there are hardly a few children left in the village as almost all 200-250 houses here are either locked or have only elderly people or migrant caretakers residing. All families along with their children have long moved to the US or Canada. Just the children of a few poor families who couldn’t move abroad or caretakers and labourers are studying in the school.
Of the 316 students studying here, 300 are from 14-15 nearby villages, including Begampur, Sangatpur, Sahni, Malakpur, Akalgarh and Sahni falling in its periphery.
School principal Jaswinder Singh Bangar said, “It’s a sheer chance that I too was a student in this school. I have around 30 relatives in the village, all of whom have moved abroad. Even my children are not here. Still it gives me so much satisfaction to have been able to develop this school with the NRI grants.”
“It all started when I got posted here a year and a half ago. I donated Rs 14 lakh for the school and got the reconstruction of some classrooms started during the Covid times. As the news spread, almost each of the 200 NRI families approached me and donated some amount. The donations are pouring in even till today,” he added.
Bangar further said: “We have already installed CCTVs, solar lights and even put up best quality colourful benches in all classes. The NRIs are happy that the school, where they have studied, has undergone a complete makeover and has become an attraction for nearby villages too.”
Due to retire in a month, the principal said, “After the facelift, my next agenda will be to set up a 30-40-bed hospital in the village. The elderly people who stay alone here often need medical help. We will take some vacant land of the panchayat and seek NRI help to develop the hospital.”
Ample funds, but few pupils at Jalandhar village school
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