BHAWANIPATNA: To grab the attention of the Kalahandi district administration, about 100 students of Kasturba Residential School of Kiapadar under Thuamul Rampur block embarked on a 25 km walk to Bhawanipatna to meet the collector and air their grievances on Tuesday.
The students wanted to flag the poor facilities in the hostel, substandard quality of food, sanitation, illumination and inadequate daily supplies to the inmates. However, instead of solving the problems, they alleged, the head mistress turned a deaf ear.
On the day, the students decided to march to Bhawanipatna to put forth their grievances before district collector Sachin Pawar. Getting information, the district education officer (DEO) met them and tried to dissuade them. However, the students insisted on meeting the collector at any cost which forced the DEO to arrange a bus to ferry them to Bhawanipatna.
Incidentally, warden of the hostel Tapaswini Naik resigned on the day and joined an Adarsha Vidyalaya. Head mistress of the school Saritaa Das alleged that the warden had motivated the inmates last night to march to the collectorate.
DEO Susanta Chopdar said the bus was arranged to bring the students to meet the collector. They were also provided lunch. After they interacted with collector, the bus dropped them back in the hostel.
However, he said that it was unfortunate that the girls had to walk to air their grievances. The matter will be inquired to ascertain if they were motivated by someone.
After meeting collector Sachin Pawar, the inmates left for their hostel. The collector assured that he will visit the school shortly and their problems will be resolved.