Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India] : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Ekalavya Model Residential School building in Andhra Pradesh’s Majjivalasa village with the cost of Rs 5.976 crore on Monday. Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) project officer Rohanki Gopala Krishna was the chief guest in the virtual meet. He addressed the gathering and said, “With the Central and state governments’ priority to education, the foundation stone was laid for three schools at a cost of Rs.5.976 crores.” He said “besides undertaking the formation of a new society with higher education, the problems could be solved easily. The new buildings were to be completed within the 14-month deadline imposed by the central government.” “Ekalavya school will have 480 seats available,” he added. Speaking further, Krishna said, “Skill Development Cell and Tourism Cell would be set up in ITDA to provide employment to unemployed tribal youth.” “We are organizing a job fair once in 15 days,” he added. Gurukulam Secretary Dr K. Srikanth Prabhakar said that “setting up large scale Ekalavya schools in Visakhapatnam, agency will become a boon for the tribals.” He said that the first land acquisition for Ekalavya schools was done in Andhra Pradesh itself. “Ekalavya will have fifty-two teachers and will provide higher education,” Krishna said. He further noted that out of 90 seats in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), 27 seats have been secured from Paderu village. This year, the government has sanctioned 9 Ekalavya schools and is setting up 9 of them in Paderu divisions.
