The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, built at a cost of Rs 14 crore in 2014 at Bagaha in West Champaran district, waiting to be inaugurated for the past two years, speaks volumes about the Bihar government's concern for girls' education.
The school at Kadmahwa, which was built on the land provided by village panchayat in a Naxalite-infested area was supposed to cater to students belonging to SC/ST categories. The government's apathy has led to resentment among the residents, including those who had donated their land for the construction of the school.
The state government had made separate provision of Rs 717.84 crore in 2013-14 for the welfare of children with seven departments contributing to the budget. The departments of education, social welfare, backward and extremely backward welfare, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes welfare, minorities welfare, art, culture and youth affairs and labour were engaged in formulating the scheme. It was decided that the money would be used exclusively on the welfare and security schemes for children and the government would use the funds in promoting sports and art activities among the children. Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi expressed surprise over the inordinate delay in making the school functional even after two years of its completion.
Modi said: "I had taken a keen interest in the project and released funds so that the students belonging to SC/ST category could get free education with hostel facilities. Since the school is located in a tribal belt close to the Nepal border and falls in a Maoist-infested area, the school was supposed to cater to the deprived sections of society."
The senior BJP leader lamented that this is not an isolated case. "Several such educational institutions in the state built in the memory of great leaders such as Karpoori Thakur and Jagjivan Ram are either lying vacant or has been in use for other purposes. This shows the government's apathy towards education, especially for girls," Modi said.
Modi also said that he would raise the issue in upcoming state Assembly session due to begin on February 23. "If the state government fails to take notice of our demand for early opening of the school, we will not hesitate in taking the battle to the streets," Modi added.
The Bagaha sub-divisional officer (SDO), Dharmendra Kumar, feigned ignorance about the fate of the school. He said: "I am here for the past one year but no has approached me on the issue. The district welfare officer would be in a better position to explain the reason for the delay as it is being looked after by the welfare department."
Efforts to contact the district welfare officer, Rajendra Choudhary, however proved futile. His mobile phone was switched off. Another official of the education department said the matter was pending due to internal wrangling.
Residents, naturally, are upset over the callous attitude of the state government.
Raju Pandey, a resident of Bagaha of West Champaran district, said: "What to talk of other facilities? Even the building has started developing cracks without inauguration in the absence of proper maintenance."
The delay in opening of the school has caused strong resentment among who have donated land for the betterment of their wards. A villager said: "We voiced our concern over the government's indifferent attitude at the chief minister's janta durbar but to no avail. What else can we do if the top echelons have failed to deliver justice."
