BHADRAK:Widespread resentment is brewing against the district administration for neglecting Mahabir School for Deaf and Dumb which is in a shambles for the last three years. While the future of physically challenged students hangs in balance, the school’s management body, which is caught in a debt trap, is finding it difficult to run the institution.
Established in 1998 at Charampa under Bhadrak Municipality by an NGO Mahabir Training and Research Centre for Rural Development, the school imparts education and vocational training to disabled students of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Jajpur districts besides Bhadrak.
The school started functioning with a strength of 32 dumb and deaf children which increased to 120 within a year. However, due to financial distress, the strength has come down to 76. As many as 11 students have cleared Class X examination from the school.
Executive secretary Niranjan Behera said, “Initially, the school expenses were met from donations collected by the management committee. However, the the situation improved after Department of Social Security and Empowerment of PWDs started providing funds in 2002. But the condition started deteriorating again from 2014 when the State Government stopped the aid.”
The managing committee has failed to pay the rent of the school building for the last one year. Moreover, the students are residing in classrooms as the management is unable to pay the hostel rent.
“Though we are able to provide food to students now, it will not be possible on our part to continue further under the present circumstances,” Behera said and added that if the State Government fails to resume the grant, the physically challenged students will be left in the lurch.
As per reports, the school was getting an aid of `14 lakh per annum from the Government of which `1.56 lakh was spent on rent and over `2 lakh went towards the salary of 20 teaching and non-teaching staff. Due to the financial stress, 10 staff have already left the school as the management failed to pay their salaries on time.
President of the managing committee Subal Sahoo said despite repeated missives, the district administration is yet to approve the proposal for resuming the Government grant. The school management had approached the Orissa High Court in March this year in this regard. Though the top court directed for recommending the proposal to the State Government, the district administration is yet to act on the matter, Sahoo added. Contacted, District Social Security Officer Pradyumna Ray said he has not been apprised of the matter. “I am in charge of the department for the last several weeks as the officer concerned is yet to join,” Ray added.