Post News Network
Nayagarh, Jan 24: Residents here are irked over the lack of infrastructure for the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) what with the administration failing to find a piece of land for the school building.
According to KV principal S Sumathy, the school, established in 2010, started functioned from the Nayagarh Autonomous College till 2012 with a strength of 200. Later, the KV was relocated. At present, it runs from the sports hostel of Brajendra High School.
Sumathy said the state government had agreed to provide 10 acres of land for the KV on a 99-year lease and an agreement to this effect had been signed in 2010.
A piece of land was identified at Muktapur village under Bhatasahi panchayat. As per the agreement, the school authorities were to provide a token price of Re 1 for the lease. The land was leveled using the money granted by the then Rajya Sabha member Rabinarayan Mohapatra, who is currently the MLA of Ranpur.
The state government, however, changed its mind and said the land would not be given on lease. It demanded `50,000 per annum as rent.
The KV authorities, however, did not accept the condition. They argued that the state government should provide land free of cost for a government institution like KV.
The KV authorities alleged that even no efforts have been made at a political level to lease out land to KV.
Even though there is no dearth of funds for construction of a building, it cannot be used as land for the purpose has not been identified yet.
The principal said a total of 372 students including 166 girls study in the school between Class-I and Class-IX. There is a shortage of space for so many students.
That apart, science and mathematics labs have not been established yet. There is no drinking water facility and a proper road to come to the school.
Another major problem is that anti-social elements entre the school even during the day. They threaten the authorities and the school staff when the latter oppose their activities during school hours, she added.
When contacted, Kendriya Vidyalaya Samiti deputy commissioner (Bhubaneswar wing) L Chari, said he had recently written a letter to the Chief Secretary to provide a piece of land on a lease at a token price of Re 1.
District collector Hemant Kumar Padhi said efforts are on to sort out the land issue. A decision in this regard will be taken soon, he added.
