By SIBADATTA SAHOO, OP
Chitrakonda: Students at a government primary school in the remote Swabhiman Anchal area of Malkangiri district are being forced to study in cramped and unsafe conditions, with leaking roofs, inadequate classrooms and dysfunctional drinking-water facilities.
Established at Tantaguda village under Paparmetla panchayat in 1982, Government Primary School has 32 students, including 10 children enrolled in Shishu Vatika. However, it has only one usable classroom. One of the school’s two classrooms has become unsafe and has been closed. As a result, students from Shishu Vatika and Classes I to V are accommodated in a single classroom.
The school has no desks or benches, forcing children to sit on the floor or in the verandah. The roofs of the classrooms, office and kitchen reportedly leak during even moderate rain, while the kitchen’s poor condition has affected preparation of midday meals.
The school has two teachers – headmaster Himanshu Sekhar Majhi and assistant teacher Dasharatha Pangi. A drinking water project installed about five years ago has remained defunct for nearly a year, while the school’s tube well has been non-functional for more than six months. Therefore, water is brought from the village for drinking and cooking, while students face immense difficulties for potable water.
A new school building and boundary wall were constructed in 2025 at a cost of about Rs 14 lakh under Setu scheme, but the building has not been handed over because of the incomplete additional classroom, kitchen and toilets. Construction of another classroom, with an expenditure of Rs 10.32 lakh under Samagra Shiksha Yojana, has begun recently.
Cluster Resources Centre Coordinator (CRCC) Ajit Pujari, who is in charge of the school, said the authorities have been informed about its infrastructure and other problems. Chi trakonda Block Education Officer Gayatri Devi said she had repeatedly brought the issues to the notice of senior departmental and administrative officials.
Meanwhile, Balakrushna Mohapatra, junior engineer with the Samagra Shiksha programme and in charge of the additional classroom construction, said the work was underway and would be completed soon. He said a proposal has also been submitted to the higher authorities for construction of a new kitchen and toilet.
The work would begin once the department approves the proposal, he added.
