Bizman donates hostel building, site worth Rs 8 crore

Ballari: Tapal Bhavani Prasad, a businessman attached to Ballari, has donated property worth Rs 8 crore in Ballari city to the department of backward classes recently. He handed over the hostel building worth Rs 4.5 crore and a 18,725 square feet site worth Rs 3.5 crore in the presence of transport and Ballari district minister B Sriramulu. Many people have praised Bhavani Prasad’s contribution.

Bhavani Prasad is from the Balija community, and he wanted to hand over the hostel to his community in memory of his mother Anjinamma and father Timmappa Tapal. However, he also felt that the hostel shouldn’t be restricted to only one community. Tapal is involved in mining in Sandur for the last several years and also has two steel factories in Ballari district.

The three-floor hostel building can house 130 students. The hostel has six toilets and two residential quarters on the top floor for staff. The department of backward classes has reserved it as a girls’ hostel and they will be shifted after Devaraj Urs birth anniversary, sources said.

“Our elders always advised to donate something to our society from our earnings. So we have constructed a big hostel building on a 47-cent plot in Ballari. After construction, we decided to hand it over to the Balija community, but then it would have been limited for only our community students. So we have handed over this building to the BCM department. Now, the hostel building will help poor and rural students in Ballari,” said Tapal Bhavani Prasad.

Bhavani Prasad’s son Naveen Prasad Tapal claimed that many students especially girls have dropped out of education due to lack of facilities in cities. “Only a few girl students have completed their graduation due to opportunities for accommodation and food. This hostel will help at least 130 poor girl students. The BCM department needs to maintain it well for the welfare of students,” he added.

Ballari district in-charge minister B Sriramulu said, “Many donors have been donating wealth to temples and religious centres, but the Tapal family has donated Rs 8 crore property for a good purpose.”