Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Feb 7: NRI entrepreneur and philanthropist, Ronald Colaco, who is known to be a liberal donor for various causes, had gifted the higher primary school building at Navaratna Agrahara in the city. The school was inaugurated in July last year. Speaking after going through the building, state primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar, hailed Colaco for setting aside a considerable part of his earnings for social service.
Kumar said that he and his colleagues in the government wish to bring transformation in the way government schools are being viewed by the people. "Our dream is to see people queuing up to admit their children into government schools, and we plan to make that happen in three to four years time. We are working to realize that dream," he revealed.
The minister appreciated Colaco for working for the development of the society and also for being magnanimous as far as supporting social causes is concerned. "This is the time where we see people generally stretching their hands for bribe. Colaco has been a liberal donor and it is his greatness that he has been giving back to the society in which he grew up," he stated.
"Nigel, son of Ronald Colaco, has been a pillar of support and has been stoutly supporting social service activities of his father. We wish that he joins us in our endeavour. I thank and congratulate Colaco for subduing differences and getting involved with great things. A visit to this school brings joy because the government school has got an extremely beautiful and elegant school building. This school appears to be able to compete with any private school in the city. Everything is neat and clean, and the school building has been built with future prospects in mind. This is an excellent endeavour," the minister said.
At the same time, Kumar said he feels sorry when thinking about the condition of government schools. He said he is aware of schools where five classes are being conducted in a single room. "I always keep thinking what I can do to improve the situation. People like Colaco have joined hands with us to solve such problems. Social work by such people is a model for others to emulate," he felt.
Suresh Kumar said that the soul of the country lies in government schools, particularly those located in rural areas. "These schools have immense talents hidden in them. We need to take up the work of identifying such talents. Colaco has stood out as a model by wholeheartedly contributing towards the development of a government school," he said. He also said that government schools need to be empowered and for this to happen, people like Colaco who are liberal donors should extend support, adding that the main aim of the government to ensure that no one is deprived of access to education.
The education minister requested Colaco repeatedly during his speech to donate his son Nigel Colaco to the state, after learning that after his post graduation in UK, he sacrificed his ambitions and stayed back here. “He sacrificed from his ambition to pursue MBA and work abroad and stayed back in India to carry out a number of charitable works undertaken by his father,” he said.
Prof Radhakrishna, speaking on the occasion, appreciated the role undertaken by Nigel, son of Colaco, by extending wholehearted support to social service activities of his father. He said that Nigel took upon himself the responsibility of constructing this school building. He narrated that Nigel has been excellently handling everything that his father tells him to do.
He also spoke at length listing many of the charitable works of Ronald Colaco, like fully equipped modern police station, taluk office, Judiciary Bhavan, panchayat office building, number of schools in several taluks and districts, temples, churches, mosques, cultural buildings etc., in which some of them had become history by being done for the very first time in the country.
Ronald Colaco, Hysna International LLC Abu Dhabi MD Ronald Pinto, Doddajala gram panchayat chairman Mahesh who earned the 'Young & Best Chairman of Gram Panchayat’ award in Karnataka, education department DDPI C B Jayaranga, BEO Kamalakara, Kannada Sahithya Parishad president Mayanna and vice-president Devadatta, well-known 'Reach Out' group, parents and children, few residents of Navaratna Agrahara, and BJP leader Munikrishnappa were also present during the minister's visit.