Warangal: Where there is a will, there is a way. When forest department rules came in the way of building a new school in the place of a dilapidated one, panchayat raj minister Danasari Anasuya Seethakka came up with an out-of-the-box idea – a container school.
She will inaugurate the container school in the remote agency village of Bangarupally in the Kanthanapally forest region of Mulugu district on Praja Palana Divas on September 17.
Collector Diwakar set up this school within 10 days by allotting `13.5 lakh from the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT). The school is basically two containers joined together, is 25 metres long and can accommodate 12 dual desk tables, three chairs for the teachers and other basic infrastructure.
Two months ago, Dr Seethakka had inaugurated a container hospital to provide emergency medical services in in the remote agency village of Pocharam, Bandhala gram panchayat of Thadvai mandal. The container hospital has four beds and separate rooms for the nurses and health officials. It was designed in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 7 lakh.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Dr Seethakka urged the Centre to simplify forest regulations for the development of the local tribal people. There is a need to amend the Forest Acts to provide minimum basic facilities to the people living in agency areas. The forest rules are hindering the construction of government buildings, laying of roads and pipelines to provide drinking water, supplying power and installation of electricity poles in remote areas.
“The Centre government has been simplifying the rules for mining activities in forest areas but refusing to relax the rules for developmental activities for the betterment of the tribal people living in agency areas. At least to provide education and medical services to people in the agency areas, the central government should bring certain changes in the forest acts,” she requested.
