As part of their contribution to uplifting the weaker sections of the society, Nandu Belani, President of CREDAI Bengal inaugurated a primary school named Udita Primary School at Paschim Khejurberia in Sundarbans on the 7^th of May.

A press conference was organized to announce the start of this primary school. It was graced by Nandu Belani, President, CREDAI Bengal, and Mrs. Kavita Kajaria, Convener, CREDAI Bengal Women’s Wing.

Udita was conceived by the Women’s Wing of CREDAI Bengal and is also funded by members of CREDAI Bengal.

The idea for building this primary school came after the pandemic. Amphan had destroyed many buildings and so the CREDAI members thought of building a school for the children in Amphan-affected areas.

The school is located at Paschim Khejurberia village, Sunderban, PS Hasnabad, North 24 Parganas.

Satarupa Majumder of NGO Swapnapuran Welfare Society is the implementing partner for this project in Sunderbans.

The primary school has classes up to the fifth standard. This is an English medium school. There is a growing desire for learning English and hence this school was set up in this area.

At present, there are 400 to 500 students in this primary school. It is run by 8 to 10 teachers.

The school will also serve as a shelter during calamities like heavy rain.

20 lakh rupees have been spent on setting up this school.

CREDAI Bengal is responsible for building only the infrastructure of the school and not for running the school.

This is the pilot project and CREDAI Bengal is yet to decide about larger formats i.e starting secondary schools.

With this step, students in rural Bengal will be able to get access to education in a good infrastructure setup.

Priyanka Dutta