Renaming controversy mars reopening of VR school in Nellore
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Soon after HRD minister Nara Lokesh formally reopened the school on Monday, Ramnarayana Reddy expressed his displeasure over the renaming of the school in his address. The school, which was established in 1875, was shut down in 2021 during the erstwhile YSRCP regime. Till then, control of the British era school's management was with the Anam family, considered a powerful political family in Nellore since the times of AC Subba Reddy, who was the first person from the Anam family to rise to the position of state minister.
While former legislator Anam Vivekananda Reddy continued as the president of the management committee of VR college and school for several decades, Ramnarayana Reddy, the present endowments minister, was the president of the committee around the time of the school's closure in 2021. After Lokesh reopened the school, the minister raised his objection over the renaming of the school as VR municipal corporation school, just because municipal administration minister Ponguru Narayana extended support for its development and reopening.
"The erstwhile YSRCP regime bore a grudge against me and got me removed from the management committee's president position. However, the management of VR school still wrests with the Anam family," he asserted. In an apparent dig aimed at fellow cabinet minister Narayana, he suggested that the municipal administration minister should adopt and develop more govt schools in the state. "Narayana ventured into politics only after tasting success with the corporate schools established by him across the state.
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But ours is a family with very long political legacy. We have been in politics from the very beginning," he said.
After remaining closed for four years, the school was renovated and upgraded to international standards by the NDA govt in the state, mainly due to the efforts of Narayana. In a noble gesture, the school has provided admissions to nearly 1,000 students from underprivileged sections of the society.
Lokesh visited all the classrooms and interacted with students and teaching staff. He also visited the playground. "This school provided education to stalwarts from all walks of life, like former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, playback singer SP Balasubramanyam, senior leaders Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, to name a few. It is my dream to transform school education in the state in a big way by upgrading govt schools in the state to corporate school standards," he said.
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