A village in Maharashtra has decided to cut down on expenses on religious activities and spend the money saved to upgrade a zilla parishad school in an initiative that has won praise from the local administration and residents of adjoining villages too.

The plan is to buy a two-acre plot to expand the school campus, located in Pokhri village of Aurangabad district, zilla parishad chief executive officer Pavneet Kaur told PTI on Tuesday.

“The villagers have decided to upgrade the school to international standards. The zilla parishad will also contribute whole-heartedly in this endeavour,” she added.

Kaur said the villagers had already upgraded the anganwadi (government-run women and child-care) centre and the school’s computer laboratory. “Now, they plan to buy two acres here and expand the school campus.”

The existing campus is located on a 20,000sqft (about 0.45 acre) area.

Pokhri resident Balasaheb Bhosale, who is leading the initiative, said the villagers decided three months back to curtail expenses on religious activities to upgrade the school and its facilities.

The villagers, he said, are cutting down expenses on tents and sweets required during the “Bhagwat saptaah”, a week-long religious event. “We have decided that during various religious feasts, dal will be prepared at one place and chapattis will be brought by every individual. The amount saved will be used for upgrading the school.”

Bhosale said that Rs 10 lakh had been spent so far to upgrade the school’s computer lab and to make the anganwadi centre digital and more attractive. “For this, Rs 50,000 was provided by the gram panchayat and the rest was contributed by the villagers,” he added.

Bhosale said the villagers were now in the process of buying the two acres and an initial amount had already been paid to the landowner. “Our village has 450 houses. Each house will contribute a minimum of Rs 5,000. Those having over five acres will contribute Rs 1,000 per acre above the Rs 5,000. This fund will help in buying land for the school,” he explained.

The villagers are also seeking help from government agencies and private CSR funds to construct the school building, Bhosale said. “We have 240 students studying here. Students from nearby villages too are seeking admission for the next academic year. People from adjoining villages are also ready to contribute funds for this initiative, but we have not taken a decision on it,” he added.