Udala: Students from an ashram school hostel walked about nine kilometers Monday to meet the Mayurbhanj Collector, after repeated complaints about conditions at their hostel went unaddressed, reports said. The students live at the Bisipur Ashram School hostel under the Khunta block of Mayurbhanj district.
Officials intercepted them en route and promised to resolve the issues, after which the students returned to the hostel. According to the students, the hostel houses 100 male and 150 female residents. For the past two months, they said, they are being served rice made from spoiled, worm-infested grain. They also said a cracked water tank has left them without adequate drinking water and that the hostel also faces ongoing electricity problems.
Students said they reported the issues to the hostel warden and matron, and later to the school’s headmaster, but the problems were not resolved. In their complaint, students alleged the headmaster came to school intoxicated and verbally abused and threatened them rather than addressing their concerns. They left their hostel on foot at 8 a.m., intending to walk to the collectorate after repeated appeals to resolve their problems went unanswered, according to local officials. The students demanded the transfer of the school’s head master and improvements to hostel conditions. Officials pledged a swift investigation and said action would be taken against anyone found responsible for the mismanagement.
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