Bathe, defecate in open, yet not shifted to new building
Parents have expressed discontent over the deplorable living of the boarders of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in Parkod village under Nuapada block.
lamenting lack of proper sanitation facilities in the hostel of the school, they have demanded immediate shifting of the centre to a newly constructed building at Nuapada.
The KGBV at Parkod village is one of the five girls’ hostels in the district opened in November 2008. The centre is running temporarily from the premises of the Government Primary School at Parkod. There are 100 girl students at the centre in the age group of 10 to 14 years.
The sanitation facility available in the school premises for the girls is deplorable. There are eight latrines in the school out of which only four are functional.
There are only four urinals but there is not a single bathroom. As such, the boarders have to bath in the open space near a tube well. The existing latrines are located far from the residential building and as a result, the girls face a lot of difficulties. Many a time, they go to the nearby ponds for open defecation. Due to the open defecation, they fall sick very often.
The Education Department allocated fund for construction of a new building at Parkod village for running of the KGBV in April 2010. The School Management Committee (SMC) was given the responsibility to execute the work. However, the committee did not construct the building and the fund remained unutilised for more than three months.
Thus as per the advice of the Education Department, a contractor was employed through appropriate process of tender for the purpose and the building was constructed in a suitable place at the Block headquarters in Nuapada.
A permanent structure with all the facilities for running the 100-seated KGBV is now ready at Nuapada since April. But it is unfortunate that the centre is yet to be shifted to the new place.
“We have repeatedly approached the district administration to shift the centre to the new building. However, the administration has not initiated any step,” said lakhmanlal, father of Kunjali Dewangan, a boarder of KGBV.
He added that the parents have to face a lot of difficulties, when there is a health problem to their children, as proper treatment facility is not available at Parkod.
The reason for not shifting the centre is stated to be political. It is learnt that, some people of Parkod village with vested interest, who are opposing the shifting had approached the High Court of Odisha with a prayer not to shift the centre to the new building at Nuapada. The High Court directed the district Collector, Nuapada to decide on the matter.
“We do not understand what benefit the politicians are getting by opposing the decision to shift the centre. It is unfortunate that the girls are forced to stay in such an unhygienic situation and face indignity and humiliation,” said a few parents.
Meanwhile, two journalists of the district drew the attention of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in this regard. The commissions were requested to give strong direction to the district administration of Nuapada to shift the centre immediately to the new building. Notably, the district Collector of Nuapada is the president of the school.