Guhiyapal Odiya High School on verge of closure

Angry villagers threaten to boycott LS polls

Mail News Service

Baharagora, April 5: The Guhiyapal Odiya High School under Baharagora Block is on the verge of closure. The school does not receive any grant and in spite of the government�s announcement of grant two years ago, no fund has been received thus far. As a result, teachers have been deprived of their salaries for more than two years and are facing starvation. As recourse, the school authorities in exasperation have decided to shut down the school. An angry Panchayat convened a meeting in the Guhiyapal Odiya High School premises which was presided by Benudhar Panda. It was decided in the meeting that either the government takes acquisition of the institution or the entire Panchayat would boycott the Lok Sabha polls.

People attending the meeting said that students from five Panchayats came to attend classes in the school. If the school was shut, they feared that the students would have to cover an additional distance of 15 kilometers to attend Odiya classes in another school at Khandamouda. As a result, many students would be deprived of education.

They further informed that students from far flung areas like Kesarda, Angarpara, Arjunbera and many villages of Purnapani Panchayat come to this school for education. �We have submitted letters of demand to the Chief Minister, Education Minister and the parliamentarian demanding government acquisition of the school but they have shown no interest in the matter,� said an angry Guhiyapal villager. The mood of the Panchayat denizens is far from happy towards the government and people�s representative.

After the meeting, people held handwritten placards and shouted slogans like, �No High School, no vote� and �Either the government takes acquisition of the school or the people of the Panchayat will boycott the LS elections.�

The meeting was attended by school secretary Bhuthnath Upadhyay, Sashidhar Upadhyay, Subhash Chandra Nayak, Benudhar Panda, Phalguni Bera, Motilal Upadhyay, Dilip Sahu, Prabodh Sahu, Shiv Shankar Shit, Bhawani Sahu, Sujit Sahu, Sachdanand Bera, Ban Bihari Bera, Sirish Mahakur and others.

School to be closed if grant not given: Head Master

Guhiyapal Odiya High School Head Master Bhawani Panda said the school had been functioning since 1983. He informed that 281 students were enrolled in classes between 8 and 10. �The government has not yet paid the grant that it had announced two years ago. As a result, seven teachers and three non-teaching staff members were faced with starvation. We will be forced to shut down the school if the government does not pay the grant soon,� he stated. Panda said that students from distant villages Arjunbeda and Angarpara under Gudabanda Block came to the school after crossing the Swarnrekha River by boat.

The students were afraid that if the school closed down they would be deprived of higher education.

Demonstration against election is against Model Code: Amit Kumar

Baharagora Vidhan Sabha�s magistrate in charge of election Amit Kumar warned that demonstrations against elections were tantamount to violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

On receiving information of demonstration by the Guhiyapal villagers who were angry over the fate of the Odiya High School, the magistrate rushed to the institution ground and conducted enquiries.

He told the villagers that Sec 144 had been promulgated in the district and conducting protests in government institutions was violation of the Model Code of conduct. �The department will take appropriate action against the demonstration,� Kumar warned. He seized all the handwritten placards used during the demonstration.

As he came out of the school precincts, the magistrate noticed BJP flags on houses in the village. He asked the landlords to produce the required written directives for displaying the flags on their buildings. None could produce such written instructions. Amit Kumar scolded the villagers concerned and asked them to remove the flags immediately. The landlords complied accordingly.