K.A.Viswanathan

 

 

The South Indian Education Society, Mumbai has adopted a tribal village in Kawthewadi in Raigad district. The integrated village development plan has been implemented and was inaugurated on May 18 , by Shri M.A.Khan ,Registrar , Mumbai University  who  presided over the function  and  handed over the village to the Panchayat in the presence of local  officials.

 

Until the adoption, Kawthewadi village did not had any sanitation facilities, no roads and no water supply till rain falls. As part of Institutional Social Responsibility, SIES, with the help of the NSS and NCC team from its college has assisted in refurbishing the village school for 70 students, a community hall of approximately 2000 square feet and three toilet blocks with separate facilities for men and women. For sewage treatment and disposal, septic tanks with a capacity of storing 40,000 ltrs of water are provided. Water supply will be through ring wells which will be suitable for rainwater harvesting. 

 

There is also plan to have solar panels for the school and the community hall since there is load shedding for three to four hours at a stretch. The community hall will serve as a centre for villagers for preparing Agarbattis, Pickle, Papad, kitchen napkins and plastic flowers and make the women to be self reliant and improve the economic condition of the village. The men folk will be trained for poultry, diary, animal husbandry, farming and 

 

 

The total cost of the project which is spread over an area of nearly 2 .5 acres is about Rs 1.25 crores which has been funded by the Society from its own resources. The village has nearly 100 families with a population of about 600 people. The school has about 70 students with one headmaster and two teachers and at present run classes from standard 1 Besides these 31 houses in the village were also repaired with plastering, new roofing and 

paintings. It took about an year to complete the entire project.