Kesinga: Established in 1959, Siroi Government High School in Siroi panchayat of Kesinga block in Kalahandi district seems to be having a run of bad luck.
The school was established August 26, 1959. It has 324 students studying in Class I to X. But the school is in ruins. It has been so for last 11 years, villagers appeal for carrying out repair works notwithstanding.
The school has been in news for one or the other reason, affecting its reputation as one of the oldest and best-known schools in the locality.
According to villagers, Rs 7 Lakh was sanctioned in 2013-14 for a new school building. The construction of the new building was started but it was left half way through. The then headmaster and president of village education committee allegedly siphoned off about Rs 4 lakh leaving the school to suffer. Back then, the villagers had taken up the matter with the Vigilance department and after a raid on the properties of the headmaster, he was terminated.
In 2018-19 financial year, Rs 6 lakh was sanctioned for the school building. Work on a new building behind the Anganwadi centre started. But this time too, the then headmaster and education committee members left the construction work midway and embezzled the money, a villager alleged.
The present headmaster who took charge in January this year is hardly showing any interest to get the half-constructed buildings completed, the villagers said.
“This headmaster has also been helping himself to lakhs of money the school is receiving under different heads though forged bills. He never ever confers with the village education committee,” another man from the village alleged.
Even though the district Collector had visited the school in 2020, nothing has changed so far. The present school building is on the verge of collapse while the doors and windows are in a pathetic condition due to lack of maintenance and termite infestation.
When asked about the reasons why the school has been in such a pathetic condition, headmaster Pralay Kumar Mohapatra refused to say anything, asking this correspondent to go and ask higher ups.
PNN