Bhagalpur, April 20: Nearly 200 below poverty level (BPL) primary students have to attend school under a makeshift thatched temple in the absence of a school building here. Ironically, the school has been running for almost 50 years, yet does not have its own building.

The school has the opportunity to shift its venue time-to-time, either under the thatched hut or under the banyan tree or at the portico of the Kali temple or sometimes under the open sky. Residents said devotees had constructed the makeshift thatched hut for the evening bhajan-kirtan, which was gradually occupied by the school.

“Where is the school office? We have to carry all documents concerned, including attendance registers inside our bags. We have to carry it back to our houses after school,” lamented Sarojini Sinha, the acting headmistress of the school. “Local residents once donated three chairs to the school which we kept in the temple after school hours,” she added.

“Sourav, my friend goes to his school daily by bus wearing uniform and I have to carry books, copies along with a bora (bag) to sit at my school because it has no classroom, no benches or desks,” said Anil Kumar, a student of Class II of the school. The school run by Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has three teachers and 189 children, majority hailing from BPL category. “The Siksha Samity of the school approached Bhagalpur district superintendent of education (DSE) several times seeking a permanent building but in futile,” alleged teachers of the school.

Many residents of Bikhanpur said a 3,765sqft government land lies vacant adjacent to the school. “Even when I was a student of the school, I had to face many difficulties. More than 17 years have passed, nothing has changed,” said Raj Kumar Sharma (24), a local resident.

Sambhu Rai, who runs a betel shop near Kali temple, said a school building should be constructed on that land. “The government is not serious and has no concern about the BPL students,” he alleged.

Sources said on March 13, 2009, BJP MP from Bhagalpur Shahnawaz Hussain had forwarded the application of the Siksha Samity of the school for a permanent building to the Bhagalpur DSE but nothing has been done so far.