Golay family gives sons’ alma mater a foot over bridge

DARJEELING,: Sikkim MLA Aditya Golay and his brother Prabhakar Golay today inaugurated a foot over bridge connecting St. Joseph’s School premises with the school’s playground.

Sikkim Chief Minister P.S. Golay had in his visit to the school last year promised a footbridge for the school where both his sons, Aditya and Prabhakar, had studied in the past.

“We want to congratulate the entire school family for the foot over bridge as this was a very important thing for the school. I still remember that when I studied here, we had to cross the main road to reach the school ground from where lots of vehicles used to ply. For us, it was easy to cross the road as we were senior students, but it did pose a problem to junior students who had to be guided by the teachers one by one to reach the school ground,” said Aditya.

“The school wanted a foot over bridge here so my father and our family took an initiative to contribute towards making it,” he said.

The MLA added that the school had given him so much and contributed hugely for what he is today.

“I feel very proud and privileged that we could do something for the school as whatever values and education I have received is from this school along with much more. It is not only this school, but we do similar work for our community and society. We should do something good for the place which has given us so many things,” he said.

School rector, Fr. Stanley Varghese said, “The foot over bridge was completed in about 11 months’ time as we needed permissions to make it along with shifting of the high-tension electricity lines. This is the first time that such a bridge over the road was made in Darjeeling.”

According to Varghese, the funding for the foot over bridge was done by Aditya and Prabhakar with some expenses also borne by the school.

“We wanted to make a foot over bridge here for a long time as lots of vehicles ply here so there is security of the children here while crossing the road. Everyday about 1300 children go to the ground for sports and such a bridge was important for their safety,” said Varghese.