Quarantined migrant workers give new look to school building

Jaipur: A total of 54 migrant workers from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar redefined quarantine by opting to change the look of their dilapidated quarantine centre, a government school building, by painting it afresh at Palsana village in Rajasthan's Sikar district.

It was a tough call for these workers to spend 14 days of their quarantine period without doing any kind of work. To keep themselves engaged, they decided to paint the school building where they have been quarantined.

Many village youths extended their helping hands in this unique drive after watching the workers from different states putting fresh strokes of colours on the government school building. Soon the alumni of the school and the villagers collected money to buy more paint to give a facelift to the otherwise dilapidated school building.

According to village sarpanch Roop Singh, "A quarantine center was set up in the village school amid the coronavirus pandemic, in which around 54 labourers were quarantined on April 18. We arranged for their food and water.

"After a few days, the labourers staying there told the villagers that they were hard working people and couldn't sit idle without doing any task. The workers said they needed to do something at least to digest their food."

The sarpanch added: "They told us that since we were taking care of them, they needed to give something back to the village, and asked if they could clean up the school building." The workers sought permission from the sarpanch who approached the administration to get the necessary clearance.

Shankar Singh, Omprakash and Ravi from Haryana suggested that they would like to paint the school building if they are provided with the required materials. The sarpanch then obtained permission from the administration and supplied the workers paints and brushes. They were joined by the school alumni and together they have finished painting a substantial part of the school verandah.

Rajendra Meena, Principal of the Government Higher Secondary School, Palsana, said, "The school was not whitewashed for the last nine years, and now it is wearing a different look. Surprisingly, these workers didn't accept any payment for their work."