The school board of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), along with ‘Ekalavya Balshikshan va Arogya Nyas’ organization, has started a special school for the children of addicts and Devdasis.

"The school, which was inaugurated on Monday at Phad gate area in Shukravar Peth, has already enrolled 33 students. This is the first–ofits–kind municipal corporation–run school specially dedicated to the deprived classes,"said a press statement issued by the school board.

The press note further said that the Marathi medium school will have classes from kindergarten to standardVII.

The organisation has made arrangements for the transportation of the students. Along with regular schooling, a project of extra curricular activities – ‘Bal Bhavan’ – will be carried out during the afterschool hours concentrating on the overall personality development of students.

The board officials said the PMC has planned a number of initiatives in the field of education. Apart from this school for the deprived students, the civic body also plans to start a music school in the city. There are plans for four e–learning, sports and military schools, too. The board has identified sites for these schools in Hadapsar. Projects for infrastructure development at schools, sanitation programmes, campaigns to create awareness about social issues are also on cards, said the officials.

The PMC runs 294 schools with Marathi, Urdu and English as mediums of instruction in the city. Over one lakh students study in these schools and a sizable number are from the Below Poverty line families.