BERHAMPUR: The state government may have advised people not to venture out in the sun from 11 am to 3 pm in view of the sweltering heat but in Gajapati’s Chandragiri, students of the Government Upper Primary School are forced to have their mid-day meals (MDM) in open spaces under the scorching sun.
The school has an intake of around 392 students from classes I to VIII and 12 teachers. However, it still lacks basic facilities. While the institution reportedly has no dining hall, the verandah is too small to accommodate all the students during their meal time for which they have to eat outside under the sun. The situation gets worse during the rainy season as classrooms and the verandah prove inadequate for distribution of MDMs.
To add to their woes, a total of only four toilets are present in the area for which students have to go outside the school campus to answer nature’s call. Besides, stray animals, in absence of a boundary wall, make their way into the school premises.
“We had apprised the higher authorities and local elected representatives about the issue several times in the past and still waiting for their action,” said headmistress Gitanjali Behera.Meanwhile, both block and district education officers were unavailable to comment on the matter.