Back to school: Pune family to mark elders’ birthdays by donating to their alma maters

The Kolekar family will donate Rs 2 lakh to the Sevasadan girls' school in Solapur on May 4.

Schools in villages are always struggling to stay afloat. (Representational image)

Away from the public gaze, schools in villages are always struggling to stay afloat. Now in a noble gesture, a family in Pune has decided to make monetary donations to such schools where its elders had studied nearly seven decades ago, that too on their birthdays.

On May 4, when Kusum Apparao Kolekar turns 77, she will visit her school Sevasadan Kanya Prashala (girls’ school) in Solapur, along with her son and other family members, to donate Rs 2 lakh towards its welfare. The family also plans to support three meritorious girls from the Solapur school after they clear their class 10 exams.

“These schools were built nearly a century ago by visionaries and it is here where my mother got educated. Our family’s effort is to recognise the school’s contributions in shaping my mother’s life, which in turn were the values she instilled in us through educating the rest of the family members,” said Kusum Kolekar’s son Yashwant.

Yashwant has also identified schools where his late father had studied and plans to make donations in his birth month of November.

“Many chains of schools operating in the cities have numerous sources of funding. Whereas, schools in villages require money for their upkeep. Will will try to fund these schools every year,” said Yashwant, who is a professor at the civil engineering department of College of Engineering, Pune.

In recognition of the Kolekar family’s goodwill, Pune Sevasadan Society, which runs the Solapur school, has organised a get-together with the family on Wednesday.

Last year, the Kolekars had called off birthday celebrations and donated Rs 4.50 lakh towards the Maharashtra government’s fight against Covid-19.

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