Sakshi Tiwari, a class IX student from the Navi Mumbai suburb of Kalamboli, had shot into the limelight earlier this month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to her plea for a playground for her school. She has now said that she was spurred to write the letter to the PM after her school held its flag-hoisting ceremony on August 15 on a street next to the school building.
Fourteen-year-old Ms Tiwari said that she had sent the letter to the PM on August 16, and officials had visited her on the very same day. “On August 15, we were hoisting the flag on a narrow road outside the school. But we couldn’t do it properly as we had to keep moving back and forth so that motorists could make their way through. That’s when I remembered that I had heard a Mann ki Baat programme on the radio a few days ago, and I decided to write a letter to the prime minister,” Ms Tiwari said.
Ms Tiwari and her sister, Shruti (13), who studies in the same school, were getting ready for school along with their brother, Abhishek (9), a class IV student, when they heard the Mann Ki Baat programme on the radio. “We usually switch on the radio when we get up around 6.30 am. It was only a few days before Independence Day and, later, I realised what I wanted to write to the PM about,” Ms Tiwari added.
The letter was forwarded to City Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), whose officials visited Ms Tiwari with a printout of her letter. But, said Ms Tiwari, she hasn’t heard anyone since. “No, there has been no update after that visit. We hope that they get back to us soon,” she said.
Cidco’s public relations officer, Mohan Ninavade, said that the issue is being looked into. “We got the letter and we sent our officials to locate the girl. As of now, we are conducting a survey of the area to see where we can accommodate the kids,” he said.
New Mumbai English School, where Ms Tiwari studies, is half a kilometre away from her home and has a total of 150 students and 13 teachers, and is surrounded by comparatively bigger convent schools. When asked what her plans for the future are, Ms Tiwari said, sitting in the courtyard of her school, “I want to pursue commerce and eventually become a chartered accountant.”
