It was a dream come true for a group of 10 students from Kerala’s Alappuzha district when they took their maiden flight from Kochi to Bengaluru on Thursday, thanks to Kudambashree, a women’s collective.
The funds for the trip were raised through the sale of old newspapers and other scrap materials.
To encourage the children to do well in Classes 10 and 12, the women self-help groups of the Kudumbashree poverty eradication and empowerment programme of the Janakshemam ward of the Muhamma panchayat offered a flight trip to those who score A+ grades.
The students, along with 10 members of the Kudumbashree units, visited the Lalbagh Botanical Garden, took a ride on the metro, and later travelled back home by train. Ward member Latheesh B Chandran, who led the group, told DH that around Rs 30,000 collected through the sale of old newspapers and other scrap items was used for funding the travel. 10 members who accompanied the students bore their expenses.
“Similar programmes to motivate children would be initiated in future also,” he said.
In March, the panchayat announced the project to motivate students. Around 300 Kudumbashree members contributed 2 kg of old newspapers each besides other scrap items.
The Janakshemam ward had earlier also introduced such novel initiatives. With Giant African Snails posing a threat to the farmers of the ward in 2021, a snail-catching contest was organised. Onam bumper lottery tickets with prize money of Rs 12 crore were then offered as prizes to 10 people who caught the highest number of snails.