RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Aug.12: A reputed residential school of the city Vikas Vidyalaya, which was inaugurated by the first president of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, in March 1953, completed one-year selling milk during Corona pandemic.
The school, having 114 cows in its cowshed, has been selling 300 litres milk every day at the rate of Rs 50 per litre since July last year to ensure that milk produced in the school campus does not go wasted, a school source informed.
School principal P.S.Karla confirmed the fact saying it remained an experience of generating possibility in the face of challenge.
“Earlier we used to sell 50 to 60 litres surplus milk of our school but when the lockdown started and all the 300 students staying in our school hostel went, we were worried about making use of milk produced in our cowshed. Finally, we decided to sell them,” Karla said.
Asked whether he has tied up with any firm for the work of selling milk, Karla said it is done by school staff staying on the campus.
“Work of selling milk is being done by school staff staying in the school campus. It is like a lockdown engagement for them also,” Karla said.
Vikas Vidyalaya was established by Manav Vikas Vidyalaya Trust, Kolkata. The School provides education for students catering to an all-round personality development. The School is an estate of around 200 acres in area, of which more than 50 acres are occupied by the School Complex.
An insider of Saraswati Vidya Mandir appreciated the work saying managing cows remained a challenging task for residential schools.
“It is good that milk is being properly utilized. We also had 20 cows in our cowshed to cater to the needs of students residing in hostels. We had a problem keeping it during the lockdown. We have given the cows to those associated with schools to look after till the smooth functioning of school starts,” the insider said.
An advocate of Jharkhand High Court, Abhay Kumar Mishra, who is associated with many schools in different capacities said all residential schools having cows in their school campus are compelled to sell milk in the market during the lockdown and it is a new experience which corona pandemic has given to schools.
“I remember having purchased Khoa produced by Vikas Vidyalaya. Many times I have purchased milk sold by Taurian World School near my residence. The milk is sold in bottles,” advocate Mishra said, adding that though the government has allowed offline classes for Class IX to XII but the presence of students in hostels is much less than the regular strength and schools cannot consume all milk they produce.
