Netarhat: Chief minister Raghubar Das announced on Thursday that the administration was returning a century-old heritage building to the Netarhat school management so that it could be restored, thereby fulfilling a longstanding wish of the alumni that includes a virtual who's who of the region, starting with IAS officers, both serving and retired, politicians and professionals.

"Netarhat vidyalaya first started at Chalet House," Das said in his address, referring to the wooden structure built in the early 20th century.

"This building has historical importance. It is a heritage site. The school management will now own this building. I expect the school management to convert it into a heritage building so that visitors get to know the glorious past of the school," he said.

The two-storey Chalet House is half a kilometre away from the main campus. According to a plaque installed by the district administration, it was built during the time of Sir Edward Gate, who was lieutenant governor of Bihar and Odisha.

Initially, Chalet House was used as a summer getaway for British officers.

Netarhat vidyalaya, founded in 1954 with Charles Napier as its first principal, started operations from Chalet House.

But classes were conducted at a nearby godown. Later, the school shifted to its present campus.

Das, who chaired a cabinet meeting at the hill station on Wednesday, was addressing students and teachers at the school on Thursday morning after inaugurating a new 600-seater auditorium. He also announced some additions for the school, notably, a stadium and a state-of-the-art water purification system since the old one had stopped working.

Netarhat Residential School, spread over 460 acre, was established in 1954. It follows the Jharkhand Academic Council syllabus for students from Class VI to XII. As of now, it has 520 students on rolls.

The chief minister was visibly impressed with the school. "I had never visited the school before, but I had heard a lot about its academic excellence and level of discipline. The school is situated in the lap of nature, a perfect ambience for studies," he said, adding that it was Netarhat school that inspired his decision to open three similar residential schools elsewhere in Jharkhand.

The old boys association of the school, that was pushing for the return of Chalet House, include as members the likes of revenue secretary K.K. Soan, former home secretary J.B Tubid, PRD deputy director Ajay Kumar Jha and former Ranchi University vice chancellor K.K Nag.

Nag, a student of the first batch, had been specially invited for Thursday's function.

H.K P. Sinha (85), who joined as physics teacher, welcomed the chief minister's decision, explaining how the Latehar district administration had taken over Chalet House in 2004 to renovate it.

Subsequently, the district authorities started using it as a camp office.

"We have been fighting to get back Chalet House for long. We have a nostalgic connection with it since the school was first started from this building. Sometime in 1958, when the school got land for expansion, Chalet House was converted to house the principal's residence and a clinic," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, minister of school education and literacy mission Neera Yadav said over time the infrastructure of the school would be upgraded with computers and by establishing an agriculture research centre.

On Thursday morning, before visiting the school, the chief minister inaugurated an 18-room guesthouse near the JTDC's Prabhat Vihar at Netarhat sunset point.