Students in a school.
Credit: DH File photo
Kota: A two-room largesse by an uneducated man has allowed Jhalwar authorities to set up a school after the original building collapsed earlier in the year, killing seven students.
The grant means the owner has to live on his farm under a tarpaulin with his family of eight.
Mor singh, who has never been to school, was so moved by the lack of a school building in his village that he lent his only house that he built with difficulty for Rs 4 lakh in 2011 with income from his daily wages.
In July, one of the classrooms of a government upper primary school in Piplodi collapsed, killing seven, and rendering 21 students injured, many of whom still under care at their homes.
His gesture meant that authorities could set up a school within 10 days of the tragedy.
Mor Singh has emerged as a hero in the mostly tribal village in Jhalawar district.
His munificence becomes grander in the light of hardship he foisted on himself, and his family, who now have to live in an uneven cottage of plastic and tarpaulin propped up on a sloped patch of his farm.
In July, with the school building in rubble, a few teachers set out asking for space to set up another school. Everyone refused.
They met Mor Singh when he was on his way back home from his two-acre farm with his nephews, Prakash and Chhotulal.
"They told me the issue and sought my house to resume the classes," Mor Singh told PTI.
"'Kakaji, will you vacate your house for school classes?' my nephews asked me. I felt the presence of god in my heart and I instantly said, 'Yes, why not! I can vacate my house for the future of village children, at this moment, even in rain,'" he said.
He told the teachers he would only need to buy a plastic sheet and tarpaulin for Rs 500 to set up a cottage for his family.
The same day, Mor Singh moved to his farm.
The cramped cottage there houses him, his wife, Mangi bai, two sons, one in class 12 and the other pursuing a technical course at Industrial Training Institute, two daughters, both in school, and a toddler.
No one objected to the move.
Two cots, a stove, a few utensils are the only belongings Mor Singh brought to his new dwelling. The rest were packed away at relatives' houses.
His family burns hay to keep the insects, snakes away at night. The roof leaks in the rain. But Mor Singh is happy and content.
"Life here is hard but it is not going to last forever. We will shift to our home as soon as the school building is ready," he said.
Jhalawar Collector Ajay Singh Rathod praised the gesture of Mor Singh, now titled Bhamasha, a doner.
"If Singh had not come up, kids would have had to be moved to another government school building about 2-3 kilometres from the village," he said.
Rathod said the state government has allotted 10 bighas of land for the construction of a new school building and sanctioned Rs 1.8 crore.
Mor Singh has been compensated with Rs 2 lakh - a lakh each for house maintenance and the help, he said.
Since the July tragedy, 10 more students have been enrolled in the school, which now has a total of 75 students, Mahesh Meena, one of the upper primary teachers at the school, said.
Eight of the students injured in the collapse are still under treatment at home.
Two more teachers have been deputed to take care of their studies at home, Meena said.
The classes in the new school building are likely to begin next year, he added.
Since the school collapse, the Rajasthan government has vowed to develop Piplodi into a 'Model Village', giving the venture tagline: 'Hamara Sankalp-Piplodi Ka Kayakalp, Hadse Se Vikas Tak.'