Running high fever, 11 inmates of a hostel run by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) in Mayurbhanj district have left for home after authorities allegedly did not pay any attention to their treatment.
The inmates of Mahulia primary school hostel in Shyamakhunta area claimed that though they had been suffering from fever for the last couple of days, no hostel official took care for their treatment. The incident came to light when condition of one of the students deteriorated and his parents were informed by the locals on Wednesday.
Father of one of the affected students Mangal Singh said the hostel superintendent told them to rush their son to a hospital. “We took all the 11 inmates to a nearby hospital in an autorickshaw and after treatment they all left for home,” he said.
The locals alleged even as the government claims to have constructed budget hostels for tribal students, the incident at the Mahulia exposes the kind of facilities being provided to the students.
School managing committee member Purna Chandra Singh alleged that the hostel superintendent does not take good care of the students. “The hostel is yet to get electricity connection. There are only six lanterns for 40 students and the food supplied is also substandard. The toilet too is in a very bad state,” he alleged.
Sources said school headmistress and hostel superintendent Tilottama Das’ husband Ambika Das usually supervises the activities here in her absence. He purchases grocery, vegetables and other food items for the inmates, but neither he nor the superintendent stays in the hostel as custodian.
The parents too alleged that they had been writing to the authorities about the problems but in vain.
The superintendent said she is a paralytic patient who needs 15-day leave every quarter for health check-up. “The Government does not grant me leave. There is also no facility for me to stay in the hostel. I too have written to the authorities expressing my inability to manage the hostel. But no step has been taken yet,” she said.
Meanwhile, the local BDO and the welfare extension officer visited the hostel. Terming the incident as unfortunate, ITDA project administrator Tusharkanta Mohanty promised action against the squad, which had been entrusted with the job of inspecting the hostels and reporting negligence.