To his die-hard fans, Sachin Tendulkar is ‘God’, something a tribal village in West Bengal swears by after the Rajya Sabha MP intervened to fund the reconstruction of a 51-year-old school.
Moved by a headmaster’s request, Tendulkar agreed to release Rs 76,21,050 for the Gobindapur Makrampur Swarnamoyee Sasmal Siksha Niketan school with over 1,000 students from his MPLAD fund. The school is located on NH-6 under Narayangadh police station about 140 kilometres southwest of Kolkata in the Midnapore (West) district.
Tendulkar has already released 75 percent of the amount, which was paid in three instalments, while the remaining would be given on production of the utilisation certificate, which was recently submitted.
For headmaster Uttam Kumar Mohanty this was nothing but a “miracle” after he was left “frustrated and endured sleepless nights after making door-to-door” pleas to local MPs and MLAs for financial assistance to the school which was on the verge of collapse.
Ten years after his struggle started, one fine day in 2013, the idea of writing to Tendulkar occurred to him. The iconic cricketer, at that time, was one year into his parliamentary stint and was criticised for his rare appearances in the Upper House.
Mohanty searched the internet for Tendulkar’s official email address and finally wrote to him on March 13, 2013, requesting assistance for the school.
It was out of sheer frustration. I had little hope after being ignored by Suryakanta Mishra (a five-time MLA) and Prabodh Panda (who was in the Lok Sabha from 2001-14).Mohanty
After more than a year passed and Mohanty had almost forgotten, the “miracle” happened on August 7, 2014 when Tendulkar replied assuring him of assistance.
This is with reference to your proposal of construction of library, laboratory and girls’ common room and seeking funds. I’ve recommended to the honourable district collector Bandra that funds be released to you. You’re requested to please contact the honourable collector in your area and submit to him the details of the project with an estimate.Sachin Tendulkar
Mohanty sought help of civil engineers and the rough estimate was Rs 76,21,050, a huge amount considering the Mumbai maestro had not even heard of Midnapore village.
It was the greatest joy in life for the 49-year-old headmaster when Tendulkar readily agreed after Mohanty rushed to the West Midnapore district collectorate with the letter.
Everyone was astonished and could not believe their ears, even the ones who criticised me all these years. I cannot express in words how happy I was... It was like a godsend. Everyone at the school will remain indebted to Tendulkar forever.Mohanty
In due course, Tendulkar’s office got in touch with Mohanty over phone and credited the amount to the local DC.
Construction is in full swing and the building has a plaque which duly acknowledges the contribution of “Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, honourable MP Rajya Sabha. FY 2015-16”.
After the school is complete, I will personally go to Mumbai to invite him for the inauguration. It’s like another dream, but everyone here is desperate to see the god-like icon.Mohanty