Japanese Consul General inaugurates school for under-privileged children
   Date :28-Feb-2020

Japanese Consul _1 &
 Michio Harada, Consul General of Japan in Mumbai hand-shaking with Ram Gulam Sinha, President of NGO Prerak Samiti, near the plaque of newly-inaugurated school building. (R) The newly-constructed school building, situated at Tora village in Abhanpur Tehsil of Raipur district.
 
 
Staff Reporter :
 
Raipur,
 
A school building for under-privileged children at Tora village in Abhanpur Tehsil of Raipur district was inaugurated by Michio Harada, Consul General of Japan in Mumbai, here on Thursday. The financial assistance for the construction of school building, furniture and other necessary amenities was provided by Government of Japan under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) Scheme. As per information received, an amount of US$ 89,055 (INR – Rs 61, 44,800 lakh) under the financial assistance was granted to a local Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Prerak Samiti, on December 13, 2019 in this regard. The school, which will run curriculum till class 8th, have enrolment of 250 students at present.
 
“The school will provide quality and affordable education to under-privileged children. Here, the students will be able to study in a secure and healthy environment, which help in their physical and intellectual development and minimise early dropout of children from school especially the girls due to non-conducive environment,” official sources in the Consulate General of Japan in Mumbai told The Hitavada, on the sidelines of the inaugural function.
 
As per the sources, since 1991, the Consulate General of Japan in Mumbai has implemented 103 projects aggregating to about US$ 7 million under GGP scheme in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. “An amount of US$ 210,378 has been granted especially for Chhattisgarh for three projects, wherein the third one came into existence on February 27, 2020,” the sources maintained. According to the sources, the NGO had approached the Consulate-General of Japan in Mumbai couple of years ago regarding the setting up of a school for under-privileged children at Tora village in Abhanpur Tehsil of Raipur district.
 
“Based on the proposal, a solo-member team from the Consulate-General of Japan in Mumbai visited the designated place along with the NGO members to take up a feasibility report. Subsequently, the report that was submitted to Office of the Consulate-General of Japan in Mumbai, which forwarded it further to Tokyo and finally the approval was given,” the sources added. In next course of action, according to the sources, the Government of Japan sought the consent of Government of India to release the financial assistance for the project, which was instantly given. “GGP Scheme is a part of the Official Development Assistance by the Government of Japan. The scheme aims to provide financial assistance to NGOs as well as non-profitable organisations. Its main scope encompasses primary health care, primary education, poverty alleviation and empowerment of women etc,” sources asserted.