Teacher family gives Rs 6 lakh to school

Jalpaiguri, Feb. 8: The family of a deceased high school teacher donated Rs 6 lakh today to the institution where she taught to fulfil her dream of helping needy students.

Mathematics teacher Raidhoni Roy had decided to give away a part of her retirement benefits to the school.

But before she could do it, she died of a heart disease six months after her retirement. Her family received the retirement benefits last month.

Raidhoni's husband Nikhil Ranjan Roy said she started teaching in Debnagar Kumudini Uchha Balika Vidyalaya in 1974.

"Raidhoni retired in August 2010. But she suddenly passed away on February 16 last year. She had told us that she would donate a part of her retirement benefits to the school where she had served for 34 years. Recently, we received the money and I am happy to hand over Rs 6 lakh to the school," said Roy, a former head accountant in the police superintendent's office here.

He added that the money was handed over to the authorities under certain conditions. "We want Rs 2 lakh to be utilised for the upgrade of the school library and Rs 3 lakh should be used to help girl students from economically backward families. The remaining Rs 1 lakh should be kept as a fixed deposit and the interest should be used to award cash prizes to meritorious students from poor families," said Roy.

Headmistress Gouri Bardhan said a large section of the 1,200 girls who studies in the school come from poor families. "We are a government-aided school but we hardly get any help for the development of infrastructure. We welcome this generous gesture. The money will be used for what she wanted us to do," Bardhan said.

A cheque for the amount was handed over to the school authorities during a programme today.

Teacher Chumki Bhattacharya said Raidhoni had refused a farewell programme when she retired.

"She told us that the school needed improvement and we should not spend money on her. We fondly remember her on a day when her dream is being fulfilled," said the teacher.

Class IX student Shyamoli Roy said everyone in the school would fondly remember the teacher. "We will all remember Didimoni's contribution. She was a very kind person and took good care of us."