CUTTACK : The Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha has claimed before the Orissa High Court that takeover of the Secondary Board High School (SBHS) in Cuttack by the state government was necessary in view of the heavy financial burden for its operation.
SBHS was set up by the BSE in 1959 as a demonstration and experimental school under the Orissa Secondary Education Act 1958. Sujogya Kumar Samantaray, an alumnus of the SBHS had filed a PIL questioning the legal validity of takeover of the premier institution by the state government from January 1, 2024. Advocate Akshaya Kumar Pandey is representing the petitioner.
In a counter affidavit, the secretary in-charge of BSE Manjulata Mallick said the annual financial burden had gone up to nearly Rs 1 crore when the process for takeover was initiated in 2013. The annual expenditure for running the school had since increased further.
Mallick further stated BSE was initially in charge of printing and supply of textbooks meant for Class VIII. But the source of income of the Board reduced with the state government taking over the job of print, publication and sale during these years, a copy of which was available on Thursday. “Furthermore, students, staff and all beneficiaries stand to gain from direct administration of the school by the government. Several beneficial schemes of government to improve standards of education and maintenance of infrastructure can be made available to the student and staff of the school,” Mallick’s affidavit stated.