Coolie Donates 11 Bicycles To School going Students

Anjaneya Malkandinni is a humble coolie of Malkandinni village in Deodurg Taluk in Raichuru district of Karnataka state. He struggles to make ends meet by working on daily wages. But his predicament hasn't deterred him from thinking and acting big, a difficult proposition of chewing more than one could. These days he is making headlines for his novel gesture of donating 11 bicycles to needy students of his village.

From his earnings: Well, you may naturally wonder from where he mustered the huge amount to buy and donate the 11 bicycles. Your doubts are genuine, but at the same time, you may have to believe that he managed them all with his hard-earned money totalling around Rs 60,000/-.

Why bicycles were donated: In fact, the free bicycle scheme to the state government school-going girl students was introduced by B S Yediyurappa when he was the chief minister in 2006-07. Initially, the scheme was meant only for the girl students. But, within a year the scheme became so popular that there was a huge demand to extend the facility for the boys as well. However, thanks to the various guarantees of the present Siddaramaiah-led Congress party government there is no money left in the exchequer to buy new bicycles for the government school students. Hence, there was an urgent necessity for Anjaneya Malkandinni to buy new bicycles for 11 students in his village.

Forced to walk 10 kilometres: The students of Malkandinni village were forced to walk 10 kilometres, every day to and fro to Hemanuru for high school education as there is no high school in Malkandinni village. Anjaneya Malkandinni noticed the pathetic plight of his village students including girls while he was on his way to daily wage earnings. He thought over the matter to himself and decided to buy 11 bicycles without anybody suggesting or advising him to do so.

Handed over the bicycles to the Head Master: Anjaneya Malkandinni, last Saturday visited the Hemanuru High School and gifted the 11 bicycles to the Head Master of the Government High School. In this way, six girls and five boys from Malkandinni village benefitted and rescued from the annoying daily trouble of walking a minimum of 10 kilometres for schooling!

Children should not be deprived of education: There is no bus facility from Malkandinni to Hemanuru villages and as a result, many children were being deprived of high school education as they were unable to bear the burden of walking 10 kilometres daily. Anjaneya Malkandinni says-"I was unable to witness the hardships of the children of our village and felt I should give it a try to avoid it so that our children do not end up becoming school dropouts as every year 15-20 pupils stopped schooling midway. If they are enabled for a bright future with this money, what else can I wish for?"

Need for reviving the scheme: According to estimates, there are about 186 Revenue villages, more than 50 hamlets and 30 hutments in Deodurg Taluk. Unfortunately, more than 100 villages have no bus facility compelling most of the children to bid adieu to high school education on the way. Thousands of children go to government schools in rural areas and if the free bicycle scheme is reintroduced it will light up a new ray of hope in the lives of these helpless children.

-Manohar Yadavatti

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