NAGPUR: A few days ago when Class 9 student Tina Vaikunthe recorded a reel describing her daily 7km trek to school from Khetapur village in Nagpur district, little did she know the video would go viral and bring the administration right to her village’s doorstep.Guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said he saw the video and spoke with his cabinet colleague and transport minister Pratap Sarnaik. “The ST bus service has now been started, and kids won’t have to undertake the traumatic trek to school. We are also considering providing cycles to students,” said Bawankule.Khetapur, a remote village in Kuhi, has no secondary school, forcing girls to travel to Dongargaon for schooling. With no state transport service on the route, student Tina Vaikunthe posted about her daily ordeal on social media.Social media’s algorithm picked the video and the little Tina went viral. Her newfound “celebrity status” got a stamp of approval on Friday when none other than district collector Kumar Ashirwad came down to meet her.Ashirwad spoke with Tina and other girls from the village to understand their difficulties, beyond the bus service. The district collector reviewed the condition of the Khetapur to Dongargaon road and directed the public works department to begin repair work from September. The project will be taken up under the Amrit Kaal scheme.The crowning glory moment for Tina came when she and her friends were given the opportunity to flag off the ST bus on Friday, alongside the collector.
