Thiruvananthapuram Corporation launches ‘Mayor Care’

Thiruvananthapuram Mayor VV Rajesh on Saturday launched the distribution of school bags and other study materials under ‘Mayor Care’, a new initiative of the city corporation.

While inaugurating ‘Mayor Care’, Mr. Rajesh said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the Corporation, they thought of bringing together political leaders and some employees to design the civic body’s programs for the next five years, taking into account the views of experts in each sector. They also wanted to leverage the resources available to their well-wishers to increase the effectiveness of the Company’s operations. Mayor Care was the result of those discussions, he said.

Distributing school bags, books and other study materials to students aged 5-16 was only one component of Mayor Care. The City Corporation chose the time of reopening of schools to implement the programme; because the students who will benefit from this program will be young people who are in a position to give their best to the country when the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of Independence in 2047. “The aim is to raise a generation who trust that their country and non-governmental organizations will be there for them in times of need,” Mr. Rajesh said.

The Mayor said that the Corporation wants to support the government and help school students from economically weaker sections who do not have the resources to purchase necessary supplies for the school year. But he did not want to do this using his own or government funds because it would affect other programs. Instead, it was decided to get help from people and institutions ready to provide in-kind assistance.

The Mayor stated that more than 5,000 kits were received by the City Corporation within two-three days, adding that this is an indication of the public’s trust in the civic body.

He said the beneficiaries were selected by the General Education department.

After the opening, the kits will be distributed to schools by the Institution. The Mayor said that the distribution according to schools should be made in the presence of neighborhood council members.

He expressed the hope that next year the Company will be able to distribute school kits to all students within its boundaries.

Deputy Mayor Asha Nath, Corporate Education standing committee chairman Chempazhanthy Udayan and council members were present at the event.