Nandapur: With low-pressure-induced incessant rainfall continuing across Odisha for the past 16 days, students in Koraput district’s Nandapur block have been forced to eat their mid-day meals under the cover of umbrellas out in the open, due to absence of proper dining halls in their schools and hostels.
The matter came to the fore after around 140 girl students at the Marada Sevashram School in Hikimput panchayat under the block were seen having their mid-day meals holding umbrellas in front of their school, Monday. Following this, members of the school management committee, including chairman Hari Dora, ward member Kamulu Lochan Dora, guardians Samara Bada Naik, Hari Dalapati, Dhanapati Karingia and Harishchandra Kirshani, voiced their dissatisfaction on the headmaster Udaynath Kirshani.
The headmaster cited a lack of infrastructure, including classrooms and a dining hall, as the reason behind the ordeal. He said he had already reported the matter through the block Welfare Extension Officer to higher district-level authorities.
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The issue was also brought to the attention of block Welfare Extension Officer Nagen Tripathy, District Welfare Officer Sunil Kumar Tandi, and Assistant Block Education Officer (ABEO) Mumtaj Gomang. Both the welfare officers acknowledged that Nandapur block has 18 Welfare department schools and 45 School and Mass Education (S&ME) department schools with hostels managed by the Welfare department. Over 4,500 students are continuing their education as boarders in these facilities.
Photos and accounts from the Welfare department-run residential schools and other government schools showed students drenched in rain, holding umbrellas during lunch. Such a situation has sparked sharp discontent among the students and their parents. Locals have urged the administration to address the infrastructure gaps urgently.
In Nandapur block of Koraput district, 16,034 students across 190 schools under the S&ME department are receiving mid-day meals, according to ABEO Gomang. However, she revealed that nearly 95 per cent of these institutions lack proper dining halls. With the exception of a few, most schools do not have dedicated facilities where students can eat comfortably.
Officials across departments have reportedly informed the district and state administrations through their respective senior officers about the need for constructing dining halls. The matter drew attention during the recent district-level ITDA-PLC meeting, where the issue of students eating meals in the rain while holding umbrellas was highlighted. The meeting, chaired by Koraput Collector V Keerthi Vasan, was attended by all MLAs from the district. He confirmed that the issue was discussed in the meeting.
To address the situation, the administration has decided to use funds from Article 275 and other schemes to gradually construct dining halls in all schools across the district. Collector Vasan stated that the goal is to complete the construction of dining halls in every school within the next year.
PNN