The Damocles’ Sword seems to hang on aided schools and colleges with the State Government having ordered for an inquiry into their land status.
For, most of these institutions, which were set up by locals and educationists with clear backing by the people’s representatives, have no valid land recorded in their names while the buildings are running from Government land. It is said that financial assistances extended to landless institutions may be withheld.
Pertinently, these schools and colleges are waiting to get grant-in-aid (GIA) after prolonged agitation. During the last monsoon session of the Assembly, the Government had assured them of substituting block grant with GIA. The block grant schools had created much headache for the Government by shutting their schools demanding abrogation of the block grant system and implementation of GIA. Now, many schools and colleges, already in grant fold, are found to have no valid land in their names.
However, some educationists have questioned the logic behind linking financial aid to land record of the institutions which are no private person’s properties. “First of all, these schools and colleges are no exclusive properties of any persons or trusts. Rather, they have been set up by common people and run by management bodies formed under a law of the Government. The local PRI representatives, MlAs and MPs, besides Government officials are the members of the management bodies.
Hence, these institutions are not private but public entities and should be allocated land if they don’t possess one,” said a management member of a college in Dhenkanal district.
A teachers’ union leader in Cuttack district said, “All schools and colleges have been set up on Government land or private land donated by the villagers. Where the institutions have not been able to record land in their names, the Government should come forward to help them by facilitating the process of land record. However, it would be unfortunate if GIA is linked to land patta and staff members aredeprived of the GIA on the pretext of the institutions not having RoR.”