The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Temple trust board on a novel mission

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Wednesday, Jul 02, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Temple trust board on a novel mission

S. Sandeep Kumar

— PHOTO : NAGARA GOPAL

Happy faces: Government school students with the free notebooks distributed by members of Sri Shakthi Ganesh Temple trust in Hyderabad.

HYDERABAD: When most of the temples restrict themselves to organising free food distribution programmes or conducting rituals, here is a temple which has chosen a rather novel and a different path to serve the community.

The Sri Shakthi Ganesh Temple Trust near Tarakarama theatre, Ramkote, distributes notebooks, pencils, erasers and pens free of cost to students from various nearby government schools.

At the commencement of every academic year, the temple trust members visit government schools in and around Ramkote to ascertain the strength of students. Based on the students’ strength, the number of books required to be distributed are ordered.

Later, the books are packed class-wise.

“A primary class student is given a slate and a box of chalk, those studying in higher classes are presented with four long books, two pens, a pencil box etc,” says Sri Shakthi Ganesh Temple Trust chairman M. Satyanaryana Yadav.

“There is no dearth of funds, devotees visiting the temple give their donations and many other philanthropists too contribute to this noble cause,” adds Mr. Yadav.

“The basic objective is to lend a helping hand to the needy. Students studying in government schools are economically backward and Lord Ganesha is synonymous with education. Hence we adopted this practice,” he says.

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