Karimnagar professor comes to the aid of poor school students

Moved by the plight of poor students, Sujatha Surepally raised funds and donated smartphones for online classes

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: There is a wide gap between people who can access technology, particularly in the field of education in these times of Covid-19 pandemic. While the majority of students are in a position to attend online classes necessitated by the pandemic, students from financially poorer families and orphans are struggling to access education as they can’t afford a smartphone.

To bridge this gap, renowned rights activist and professor Sujatha Surepally of Karimnagar, with the help of donors and her NRI friends, raised funds to provide smartphones to 11 students of Penchikalpet, Bejjur and Kaghaznagar mandals. The smartphones were distributed to the students at a programme held in Penchikalpet mandal centre recently.

Tahsildar Raghunath, who was the chief guest at the event, was all praise for Sujatha for coming to the rescue of the economically weak students and orphans. He requested philanthropists to draw inspiration from the professor and extend support to the needy. He patted social activist Enagandula Tirupati for coordinating the initiative.

Salpala Shilaja, a Class VII student at Zilla Parishad Secondary School of Penchikalpet and Kasipaka Manasa, a Grade IX student of a social welfare residential school, expressed gratitude to Sujatha and others who generously contributed to the cause. They said that are now able to access the online classes and are in a position to fare well in academics.

Sadmeka Rajesh, an orphaned tribal boy studying in Class VIII at a government school in Koutala mandal, thanked the professor and donors for giving the smartphone. “It will help me attend classes from home,” he said and recalled that he had represented to the Collector seeking the device in October last, considering his poor financial background.

Moved by the plight of the students, Sujatha, a sociology professor at Shatavahana University, said she raised Rs 56,000 with the help of donations by her NRI friends Divya, Vamshi, Satyanarayana, Prasad, Sowmya, Sridhar, Malati and many others in various parts of Telangana State. “With the donations, I could sponsor 55 phones for poor students in Karimnagar, Warangal and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts so far,” she said.

“Poor students have every right to access education on par with others is the motto behind the cause titled Each one, Reach one,” she said, adding that needy students can contact her at ssurepally@gmail.com or through their headmasters and teachers.

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