Like the darkness under the lamp, the Badharakil school under Nimapara block in Puri which incidentally falls under the Assembly Constituency of the Odisha Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash is reeling under neglect.
As per reports, the school which has provisions for study from Class-1-8 has only two classrooms and students from all the classes are forced to use those two rooms to study. However, interestingly it did not deter the authorities to build eight toilets in the school campus.
The school which has more toilets than classrooms does not have a kitchen either. Sources said the two ‘multi-purpose’ classrooms are used for storing utensils and other equipment too squeezing space for students to study.
Soumya Ranjan Nayak, a local of the village said, “It is a travesty that the school has to suffer from lack of classrooms despite being under the Constituency of Mass Education Minister. In fact, this school is very near to the Panchayat from where Samir Ranjan Dash hails.”
“We still do not understand why the administration built eight toilets in the school unnecessarily, which are lying unused,” Nayak added.
Asked about the sorry state of affairs, the Head Master of the school, Debaraj Panda said that he was new in the school and did not know why eight toilets have been made.
“The school is grappling with many issues. It does not have enough classrooms, neither has a boundary wall. But I am hopeful that the situation will improve soon,” Panda said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Samir Ranjan Dash represents the Nimapara Assembly Constituency in Puri district and has been entrusted with the School and Mass Education Department for the second time in a row.