Cachar: Classrooms are now bedrooms; 161 students of a Govt. LP School estd. in 1938 shifted to temporary tents in a Vet. Dispensary

It is December. The birthday month of Bharat Ratna, former Prime Minister of India and the founder of BJP – Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One of the iconic moments in his career is the launch of the ‘Sarva Shiksha Avijaan’ campaign in 2001. He also introduced mid-day meals in Government Schools that saw the enrolment grow manifold. ‘School Chale Hum’ sung by Shaan kept on playing on terrestrial television and All India Radio. It is still regarded as one of the best mass campaigns of all time. ‘School Ki Ghanti Baj Gayi Hain, School Chale Hum, Milke School Chale Hum,” said Vajpayee and it connected to the mass.

He is no more, but the BJP he visioned is spread all across like never before. Incidentally, when Vajpayee’s party is in Governance in Assam, a state that features in lists of best-progressing, 161 students of a Government LP School are attending classes in the open. Temporary tents in a Veterinary Dispensary is the new address of 297 Banskandi Maktab LP School. If students are to be believed, it has been almost a year since they have been relocated to the open.

297 No Banskandi Maktab LP school was established in 1938 and thousands of students have moved to High School after attaining lower primary education here. The school is located at the centre of a commercial hub in Banskandi. However, on October 19, 2021, the lectures were shifted to the adjacent dispensary. When asked about the same, the headmaster of the school, Kalam Ahmed Barbhuiya said that funds have been sanctioned for a new school building, and the engineers after a survey said that the current plot is not sufficient and so, they have decided to move to a different plot.

But Barbhuiya could not give a clear answer as to why the classes were relocated in a hurry before the completion of the ongoing construction works of the new school building. Instead, he hinted towards a massive scam that is unfolding with the possible involvement of other stakeholders. “We held a school committee meeting and there it was decided to relocate the school,” is all that Headmaster Kalam had to say.

On the other hand, five sisters have shifted to the actual school compound at Banskandi market and started using it as their residence. According to them, the land was donated by their grandfather to run a school. “The registered documents still identify my grandfather as one of the owners and us (sisters) as an inheritance. Our grandfather did not sell the land to the school, nor was it acquired by the government. Since it was being used for a noble cause, we never tried to stake a claim. But now, the headmaster is conspiring to sell this expensive land and that is why we were bound to stake claims of the school compound,” said one of the sisters.

According to them, Headmaster Kalam with the help of Abdullah Panchayat has signed an agreement to sell the plot on which 297 Maktab LP School was established in 1938. This plot (5.5 katha) at the centre of Baskandi is worth around Rs 1 crore. The sisters allege that Headmaster Kalam has played a game with “the help of officials” to turn this into a massive scam.

“They are now going and buying a plot at the interior. Please understand, this new plot along with the building will cost them at best Rs 20 lakh. If they sell for Rs 1 crore and build the new school compound for Rs 20 lakh, they make a profit of Rs 80 lakh on someone else’s plot. This is the scam that is unfolding and astonishingly, the administration is playing the role of mere spectators,” said a senior resident of the area.

In charge of the State Veterinary Dispensary, Abdul Qadir remained unavailable for a comment on the story. However, his boss, the District Officer, Dr. Manoranjan Sarkar said that he has not issued any such order to the Banskandi dispensary urging them to provide a compound for classes. Dr. Sarkar said that he hasn’t received any such orders himself from the Department of Education. “Ask the in-charge how is it that the compound is being used as a school,” said Dr. Sarkar speaking with a Barak Bulletin correspondent.

The District Elementary Education Officer who is also the Inspector of Schools, could not be reached over the phone. Block Elementary Education Officer, Lakhipur refused to comment on the story. Now the ball gets rolled to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, Rohan Kumar Jha. The questions remain – why is it that the classrooms were shifted in a hurry? A school that was established in 1938 is now conducting classes in the open in the backyard of a Veterinary Dispensary, what happened suddenly that these temporary arrangements had to be made. And above all, who is selling the land, and who is commissioning the purchase of this new plot where the school is being built?