The dilapidated building of Women Primary Teachers’ Training College in Motihari. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

Motihari, June 3: The Women Primary Teachers’ Training College in Motihari is a unique case of administrative apathy and neglect. Set up on a sprawling campus of over eight acres, the institute somehow skipped the notice of the district administration as well as the education department for almost two decades.

The college though draws over Rs 2 lakh per month to meet the salaries of its employees, it has not admitted even a single student since 1990. This fully-equipped trai-ning college with a hostel was set up in a “Bettiah Raj” building by the state government in 1960 for the purpose of spreading literacy among women.

Today, major portion of the institute’s roof has collapsed and snakes and several other insects have made their homes in the dilapidated rooms meant for official work and classes.

Similar is the fate of the college hostel which used to house nearly 200 students till mid 1980s. The college, in fact, functioned smoothly under former principal, Usha Rani. 1989-91 was the last regular batch in this sole teachers’ training institute for female aspirants in the district.

In 1998-99, this college started imparting one-year training to the newly appointed teachers selected by the Bihar Public Service Commission and the system continued till 1999-2000. After that, neither the BPSC aspirants were sent for training here nor new admissions initiated for fresh batches.

The college, at present, has eight working employees, including the district superintendent of education, who is the principal in-charge of the institute, two teachers and an equal number of peons and clerks. They have not been assigned any work by the government but they draw their salary every month. Of the two clerks, one retired in March this year while the other one was relieved from duty on May 31.

The lack of attention has worked as an open invitation for thieves who have made away with large quantity of wooden furniture and steel material stocked in the rundown structure.

The campus of the college, however, has not remained unused. The front portion has been encroached by over half-a-dozen retailers of country-made and other illicit liquor. They openly sell liquor in the huts constructed over the encroached land.

According to college sources, negligible initiatives have so far been taken either by the district education department or successive district education officers in past 20 years to bring back the institute back on track.

When contacted the principal in-charge of the college, Shyam Babu Ram told The Telegraph: “The state government has upgraded this training college into District Institute of Education & Training and has resolved to start its current batch 2011-2012 in hostel of Zila School Inter College building. The arrangement is for the time being as the building is completely shattered.”

“We have received permission to admit 50 students in the current session but are yet to get instruction regarding who (male or female) will be admitted in first,” he added.