Donors revive govt college with free meals, fee support

Thanks to the initiative of the college principal with people's support

- Divya Cutinho @Mangaluru

Government First Grade College at Jidekallu, about 5 km from Puttur town, which was on the verge of closure, has been revived with the college principal's initiative of offering free mid-day meals and donors sponsoring students' college fees.

In 2007, the Government First Grade College was sanctioned in Puttur. This is the first government degree college in Puttur. Initially, it functioned at the old building of Nellikatte government school for two years. In 2009, it was shifted to its own building at Jidekallu. But the student strength drastically reduced from around 500 to just 40 after it was shifted from the town.

The college is in a remote area, with no proper public transport facility. "The locals and the students have to rely on autorickshaws to reach the town. Students cannot afford to travel in auto rickshaws. Lack of routine route buses was one of the reasons for the decline in student strength at the college," said Maurice Cutinho, a local resident of Jidekallu. The nearest government college is in Puttur, but it is only for women, and another government college at Bettampady is more than 15 kilometers away.