Deoghar, March 13: The new hostel constructed on the Matri Mandir Girls’ High School campus has no boarders.

The hostel was built under the Central government-sponsored Special Welfare Project for Tribal/Schedule Caste. The state government had spent Rs 55 lakh for the construction of the girls’ hostel in 2002.

The hostel was constructed with the aim of encouraging girls, belonging to backward classes, to pursue higher education. But even that has failed to solve the problems of the girls belonging to backward classes of Deoghar.

At different meetings in 2002 Marandi said: “My government has decided to provide an opportunity to poor girls of Jharkhand to go for higher education. We have started constructing hostels for girls at all the district headquarters so that village girls could pursue high school education.”

But even after almost a year the hostel lies abandoned and not a single student of the school stays here. Though the building has been constructed basic amenities like pure drinking water, electricity, beds and furniture were not available.

Last year Marandi was scheduled to inaugurate the hostel. Even the local administration had made all arrangements for the function. The inauguration was deferred due to a last minute change in the chief minister’s programme but the administration had opened the doors of the hostel for the boarders. According to the high school headmistress, Shobhona Singh, the lack of basic facilities is the reason why the girls do not stay at the new hostel.

Pointing at a private girls’ lodge, Singh alleged that many poor students coming from distant places had no option but to stay there and pay a huge sum of money. “Many bright students were compelled to leave this school since they could not afford the lodging charges and returned to their native villages,” she said.