Even as the Odisha government makes tall claims of development of schools under the 5T initiative, a high school in the heart of Millennium City Cuttack has been lying in a shambles with a broken boundary wall and classrooms in poorly maintained premises.
The school is located in ward No-46 of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). The Municipal Government High School, Jobra has been crying for attention with a broken boundary wall, a few ill-maintained classrooms and a bathroom that has been lying in a dilapidated state.
According to sources, the school was renovated and upgraded under the Odisha government’s 5T initiative a year back. However, poor renovation work has further deteriorated the condition of the classrooms, the boundary wall and the school bathroom.
The boundary wall has collapsed due to alleged sub-standard work while the bathrooms aren’t any better. Filled with dirt, the bathrooms emanate foul smells making it hard for the students to use them and study in classrooms nearby.
The school has around 1200 students studying from Class I to Class X. However, the safety of the students seems to have been thrown to the wind with no steps being taken to repair the broken boundary wall.
“They constructed the boundary wall with very low-quality materials. They just painted the wall and inaugurated it. It collapsed just one month after its inauguration,” alleged ward-46 corporator Swarnaprabha Pasayat.
When contacted, CMC commissioner Nikhil Pavan Kalyan said, “Especially, speaking of this case I think the renovation work was done last year. If the boundary wall has collapsed, we will immediately repair it. We will also try to ensure that the quality of work is maintained. We are trying to strengthen the engineering section. Wherever action is required, we will take it and wherever there is need for improvement, we will do it, without any second thought."