The College Street campus of Hare School, with the pandals erected on the playground. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A private organisation takes over a government school for holding an exhibition, which turns into a full-fledged fair.

The organisers use loudspeakers freely. Teachers and students have nowhere to go, as classes become dormitories for the participants.

Hare School has been under forced closure since a seven-day exhibition started on December 24.

And, all this while the government is in the dark.

Aghast at the ?scandalous incident?, the state government on Thursday ordered a probe into how Biswabanga Sahitya O Sanskriti Sammelan, comprising writers and poets, could be allowed a free run of the College Street institution.

?Under no circumstances can a private body be allowed to use the premises of one of our institutions,? asserted school education minister Kanti Biswas.

?I do not know how the organisers obtained permission. I will get to the bottom of the matter and punish the culprits,? he added.

Bishnu Roy, general secretary of the teachers? association, said: ?We will soon lodge a complaint with the higher authorities.?

The government, however, is ?confused? over what headmaster Prabat Kumar Chatterjee has to say about the issue.

?The organisers approached me with a letter, supposedly from a senior official of the education directorate, asking whether it would be possible to allow the programme and keep classes suspended. As ours is a government-run school, I cannot but accept what my superiors suggest,? Chatterjee said.

The organisers, incidentally, are not required to pay a paisa to the school authorities for using the campus.

The scene on the premises resembles that of a typical fairground, complete with food stalls and dining enclosures and with kirtan, baul and Shyamasangeet being played almost round-the-clock over the public address system.

?How can one be allowed to play devotional songs on the premises of a government institution? It is not allowed by law,? said a school official.

The suspension of classes at a government-run institution has come as an embarrassment for the government, which has curtailed vacations (including Puja and winter holidays) to increase the number of teaching days.

?Teachers are coming to school and sitting idle all day. The suspension of classes has led to a year-end vacation, which the government has abolished,? pointed out a teacher.

And not just Hare School; academic activities at nearby Presidency College, Hindu School, Sanskrit Collegiate School and Calcutta University are also being affected because of the use of loudspeakers.

A huge pandal has come up on the school grounds, which is also used by the students of Presidency College.

Amarnath Das, assistant secretary of Biswabanga Sahitya O Sanskriti Sammelan, claimed the decision to hold the exhibition was taken only after the headmaster, education department, Calcutta Police and the fire brigade gave their nod.