‘Water Crisis’ Ends at Batra School in Surajpur; Resolved Within 72 Hours Following Ministerial Intervention
NBS Digital 
Surajpur: Schools are meant to be places of learning, sports, and dreams of the future; however, for the past several days, students at the Government Higher Secondary School in Batra and the Government Primary School in Pandopara–both located in the Bhaiyathan block–had been fighting a very different kind of battle: a battle to quench their thirst. Due to the collapse of the schools’ old handpump, not a single drop of water was available anywhere on the premises. Consequently, the entire school complex had become dependent on external sources for everything–from washing utensils for the Mid-Day Meal to providing water for the children to drink. It had become a compulsion for both students and teachers to leave their classrooms to scramble for water arrangements.
Local leadership delivered the first decisive blow against this administrative and infrastructural crisis. Instead of merely allowing this serious issue to get buried in paperwork, Anand Singh Armo, the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, chose the path of direct on-the-ground action. He presented the entire situation to Mahendra Singh Marko–District Vice President of the BJP ST Morcha (Tribal Wing) and representative to the Janpad Panchayat. Without wasting a single moment, Marko immediately escalated this “water crisis” report directly to the local MLA and Cabinet Minister, Lakshmi Rajwade. Since the matter concerned a fundamental necessity for children, the Minister issued immediate directives, bypassing any potential bureaucratic delays.
The result of this intervention was that, within a mere 72 hours (three days), drilling rigs arrived at both schools, and the work of installing handpumps was completed on a war footing. The problem of drinking water in the schools has now become a thing of the past. Principals, headmasters, and the entire teaching staff–all relieved by this swift action–have expressed their gratitude and thanked Minister Lakshmi Rajwade, Mahendra Singh Marko, and Sarpanch Anand Singh Armo for their crisis-solving approach.
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