Well-known cardiologist to transform village school into smart school
Dr Vijay Surase, a well-known cardiologist, has transformed the small municipal school in his village in Maharashtra into a smart school. Through his efforts, the Maharashtra government has also launched a scheme to upgrade 66,000 schools in the state with CSR funds. Dr Surase plans to upgrade other schools in the area as well.
Thane
The children of Deolana Debhegaon, a small village in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district in Marathawada will no longer have to trudge five kms to go to a big and better school. The small two- three room municipal school in their own village will now be transformed into a smart school, thanks to the persistent efforts of well-known cardiologist Dr Vijay Surase.
Dr Surase, who was honoured with Maharashtra Gaurav Award 2023, was born in Deolana Debhegaon, but never ended up studying in the small village school where his father once studied. His family moved out of the village when he was very young.
Speaking with HT, Dr Surase said, “My father did basic schooling in our village-based school and became a professor and later University Registrar. I was born in my village but due to lack of educational facilities, we moved to the city. But whenever I used to visit my village, I always thought about the betterment of education facilities for the village children who have to travel miles to complete their education. So, I formed a trust and started the work to improve the school plus general conditions of my village. But then, I realized that this is not just about school and children in our village, but it is an issue that affects the whole of Maharashtra.”
Dr Surase then started continuous correspondence with the state government and suggested *CSR funds support for upgrading all Zilla Parishad schools across the state. The Maharashtra government finally took out a GR to develop municipal schools under CSR funds in September this year and almost 66,000 schools are going to get smarter now through the “adopt a school” scheme. Dr Himself has first started and he is almost half done in reconstructing his village dilapidated school
Acknowledging Dr Surase’s persistent follow up with the government, Deputy Secretary Prashant Badgeri wrote to the good doctor praising his efforts and repeated persuasion for upgrading state schools with CSR support.
“If every capable company or trust comes forward to develop government schools into a smart school, then it would be good for not only for children’s future but also for the state and the country. I started following up with government departments including CM to develop the schools with CSR funds. The government took up the idea and now thousands of schools will be made smarter. It was such a happy day for me when I read news reports that the government has floated such a GR.”
Dr Surase has adopted the three villages and so school as well under the scheme and formulated a plan to upgrade the other schools too into smart schools with new logistics, computers and smart learning amenities.
31-year-old Pramod Thackeray, a villager from Deolana Debhegaon, recalled how difficult it was to access good education during his schooling years. “We used to travel four to five kms away from our village to reach a good secondary school. The doctor himself provided bicycles for some children to travel to the school. But, now with the upgraded school, our children will not have to waste time traveling away from the village and use that time to study well.”
