Berhampur: After returnees abandoned the isolation centres set up in schools in Ganjam district, these educational institutions were left in mess. Most of the schools are found open and unlocked, making them havens for anti-socials.
With these centres and schools not being taken care of after the returnees went back to their respective villages, not just the commodities used by the returnees during their stay but also furniture and other utilities of the schools have allegedly gone missing.
The schools in Kukudakhandi block are a case in point.
An isolation centre was set up at Balipada High School. The school left opened, unguarded for three months after the migrant returnees left for their villages. And during these three months, water motors, fans and other articles of the school as well as the centre were stolen away. And fittings like taps in toilets were also missing. Some local people alleged that the buckets and mugs used in the isolation centre are now being used by some villagers and youth clubs.
“When the school will open, students and teachers will face a lot of problems. The sarpanch who is entrusted with the collector’s power should have had to lock the school for the safety of furniture and fittings of the school and daily need articles at the centre,” they observed. The sarpanch is learnt to have lodged an FIR with the police alleging theft.
The same thing happened to Ghatipari High School and the centre set up there. When contacted, head mistress Jyoti Kumari Panda said they had handed over the school after the local sarpanch sought permission for setting up an isolation centre. “The sarpanch is yet to hand over the key to us even though the centre has since long been closed,” she alleged.
Sarpanch Umashankar Samal admitted it that the key has not been handed over to the headmistress. When asked why, he said, “Some furniture of the school has gone missing. I have lodged a complaint with the police. They are investigating in to it.”
The villagers said they are astonished to see the administration remaining silent on such incidents occurred at schools.
PNN
