Under the project ‘Shanta Sukhai (Self-satisfaction)’, it will be compulsory for every official of the Panchayat office to share the responsibility with a colleague to educate one orphan child. The two will look after the education of the boy/girl till he/she becomes efficient enough to earn.

From Monday onwards, all the orphans will be admitted to the district's 13 grant-in-aid schools. The district office will provide them with the stationary. At present, around Rs 1.75 lakh are collected by the district Panchayat officials.

District Development Officer (DDO) B C Chaudhary said: “Of the 175 children, mostly are in the age group of five to six years and a few are teenagers. One girl, Gita Gadhvi, will be admitted to the first-year BA course. We might also widen the project by providing financial help to the girls for their marriage after they complete their education.”

The initiative was taken after an entire Gagar village in the district adopted a 13-year-old boy, Melsinh Vasava, and pitched in for his education a year ago.

Chaudhary said: “Last year, during an official visit to Gagar in Nanod taluka, I saw that Melsinh, whose parents died a few years ago and grandfather was bed-ridden, was studying with the help of the villagers.”

“The villagers were generous enough to arrange for the boy's school fees and also offered him and his grandfather food,” said Chaudhary, adding, “It became a responsibility for every villager to see that Vasava gets food and that he studies.”