Nadiad: Paying a tribute to Sardar Valabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary, the primary school, in which he had studied during from 1882 to 1888, was turned into a memorial on Friday at his ancestral village Karamsad in Nadiad district of Gujarat.
The memorial called 'Sardar Smruti Shala' has been renovated at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore in Karamsad Primary School, where Patel studied from class one to class six.
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Patel inaugurated the memorial today which consists an exhibition gallery, a library comprising literature about Sardar Patel and the freedom movement, besides a creche for children.
The exhibition gallery displays the attendance sheet of the primary school, showing Vallabhbhai Patel attendance from October 2, 1882, when he had joined standard one, to June 9, 1888, the day when he left after class six.
The exhibition also displays Patel's General Registration Number 424 and exhibits the copy of his school leaving certificate.
The school building which was in a dilapidated condition due to lack of proper maintenance, was being treated as a garbage dump.
Te school building which used to be taken care by the Sardar Patel Trust, would now be maintained by the Karamsad Nagarpalika in Nadiad district.
However, with a grant sanctioned by Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat and Human Resource and Development Minister Smriti Irani, the Nadiad civic body, district administration department and the GIDC notified area trust, the building has been developed as a memorial to the country's first deputy prime minister.
