The Adarsha Vidyalaya (Model School) at Jhanjhana village in panchayat Dhenka under Hatadihi Block in Keonjhar district, was inaugurated on November 23, 2017  by Shri Badri Narayan Patra, Hon'ble Minister, School and Mass Education, Government of Odisha. The school has been constructed by Tata Steel.

Present on the occasion were  Shri Mayadhar Jena, Hon'ble MLA, Hatadihi, Mr N Thirumala Naik , Collector and District Magistrate, Keonjhar, Shri Rajesh Pandit, Superintendent of Police, Keonjhar, Shri Rajeev Singhal, Vice President, Raw Materials, Tata Steel, Mr R R Satpathy, General Manager, Operations, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel, Shri Manikanta Naik, Chief Resident Executive, Bhubaneswar, Tata Steel, Shri Biren Ramesh Bhuta, Chief, CSR, Tata Steel.

The school, along with the furnishings of the classrooms, has been constructed with an investment of nearly Rs 4.50 crore. Built by Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company (JUSCO), a subsidiary of Tata Steel, the two-story school building is spread across 24,600 square feet built-up area. It has 14 classrooms, furnished library, computer room, multi-purpose room, laboratories, teachers’ room, staff room, principal’s room, boys and girl’s toilets on each floor, prayer assembly point, etc.

Addressing the gathering, Shri  Patra said: “I commend  Tata Steel for taking up the cause of education by building such good infrastructure for Adarsha Vidyalayas in the State. I believe Adarsha Vidyalaya will help bring quality education to students of interior parts of the state and harness the potential of meritorious students of the area in future”.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Singhal said: “We are committed to contribute our bit to the state’s inclusive growth story. As part of our commitment to build Adarsha Vidyalayas in Odisha, other than this school, we have already handed over  seven such schools while work is in progress in another 14 schools. I hope this model school will be able to provide quality education to the children of the area paving the way for a better career for them.”

Among others present on the occasion included  Mr B K Rout, Deputy Director, Odisha Adarsh Bidyalaya Sangathan, Smt Pratibha Manjuri Das, District Education Officer, Keonjhar, Mr Dipak Tete, Tahasildar, Hatadih, Shri Pratap Chandra Palei, Education Officer, Hatadih, Tata Steel, Shri Sanjeev Jha, Executive-in-Charge, JUSCO, representatives of media, local Sarpanchas and other PRI Members.

In order to make quality infrastructure available to students in far-flung areas of Odisha, Tata Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Odisha to construct 30 model schools at an estimated cost of Rs 136 crore across the state. This initiative by the steel major is part of the Government of Odisha’s grand plan of setting up Adarsha Vidyalaya (Model Schools) in each block in the state. Earlier 7 model schools at Danagadi, Kamakhyanagar, Nayagarh, Korei, Dasarathpur and Jajpur blocks, built by Tata Steel, were handed over to the state government. All efforts are being made to complete construction of the remaining schools at the earliest.

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel Group stands among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 28 million tonnes per annum (MnTPA) and a turnover of US $17.69 billion in FY16. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and commercial presence in over 50 countries. Established in 1907, the Group’s vision is to be the world steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Besides being one of ‘worldsteel’s’ Climate Action members, it has also been awarded the CII ITC Sustainability Prize, the ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ by TIME Award, the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant, among several others.

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