Salipur: The Odisha government is spending lakhs of rupees to improve infrastructure of schools and has taken a host of measures to ensure quality education. However, the condition of the Dasasahi Project Primary School under Salipur education circle in Cuttack stands in contrast with the government’s efforts. The school is being run on the premises of Murkundi Baneswar Shiv temple for the last seven years. Local people, guardians and even teachers have expressed their unhappiness over the state of affairs. Sources said that over 40 students are studying in the school from Classes I to X. They pointed out that since the school does not have land of its own a building has not been constructed. So students attend classes inside the temple.
Many in the district are wondering as to how a school is allowed to function without physical infrastructure for so many years. The part of the temple where students attend classes has no doors and windows. They are crammed into a small space and feel suffocated, sources pointed out. “Most of the time monkeys, dogs and cattle have free access to the temple premises. Only two teachers have been appointed to conduct classes. On days of festivals and rituals, classes remain suspended.
The mid-day meal for the students is also prepared inside the temple premises, they added. Though people of nearby villages have taken up the issue of a proper building with officials of the School and Mass Education department, so far no steps have been initiated for allotment of government land. Headmaster Nrushingha Charan Das said the school has no land of its own. “We do not have the physical infrastructure to run a school. The district administration and the district Education department have been intimated about the need for a building, but no concrete steps have been taken,” he lamented. When contacted, Block Education Officer Jagabandhu Satpathy also confirmed that the school has no land of its own. After land provision, steps will be taken to construct a building.