In a kind gesture, a woman farmer and former teacher from Peravurani town in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district has contributed the sum she had received as cyclone relief for the construction of a volleyball court for the government girls’ higher secondary school.

36-year-old Bakiyalakshmi Thiruneelakandan received ₹1.5 lakh compensation from the government and instead of utilising it, she decided to help the girls aspiring to play on national and international sports events but were facing challenges due to non-availability of facilities.

According to The Times of India, Bakiyalakshmi, a resident of Nadakadu had been a teacher with a private school for seven years, however, she was forced to resign from the job after her husband’s demise. She decided to take care of the agricultural farm and the compensation was given for the coconut trees on one-and-a-half acres which perished when cyclone Gaja struck the delta on 2018.

‘I found that though several girls aspire to play for our state and country, their parents are unwilling to send their wards for practice because the coaches take them to various places looking for a good volleyball court. Five students who studied at the school got admission to various sports hostels in the state. But, their parents prevented them from joining hostels’, said the good samaritan.

She further stated several girls played for the state and were getting selected for other levels but were unable to take it up as a profession.

‘With the permission of the school administration, I have completed 80% of the work spending 1.2 lakh. The remaining work halted due to the lockdown, will be done when school reopens,’ she added.

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