Among the various examples of wasteful use of Government funds in this area, the new hostel being constructed on the land of Government inter college Joshimath presents an example of what the locals have termed as unnecessary construction. According to sources, lakhs of rupees are to be spent on construction of the new hostel building under the Border Area Development Programme while the existing hostel of the inter college is not being used for the intended purpose due to dwindling number of students. lack of use and maintenance have turned the existing hostel building into a ruin which has made construction of a new hostel building all the more questionable. The locals believe that the new construction is just another front being used by officials for orchestrating financial irregularities.
It should be mentioned here that the new hostel building being constructed would cost Rs18 lakh. Interestingly, the existing hostel of the inter college is being used mostly for shelter by stray animals as the number of students in the inter college has dropped considerably. This hostel building has turned derelict due to lack of maintenance and absence of intended use. Questions are being raised at the reason for constructing a new building when the existing facility has fallen to disuse. The number of students in the Government inter-college in Joshimath has been decreasing by the day. At present less than 100 students attend this inter college and most of them are from families residing nearby. The locals stated that they were unable to understand the reason for spending lakhs of rupees on building a hostel that is not needed at a time when the student strength here is decreasing and schools are being run in most areas-decreasing the dependence of students on this government inter college.
This apparent misuse of funds under the Border Area Development Programme is being cited by the locals as a question mark on the functioning of the authorities. They point out that the blatant anomalies in various aspects of this construction were exposed when the wall of the foundation got damaged during construction of this new hostel.
This has also raised doubts about the quality of construction work. The locals point out that money which should have been used for development of this border area is being wasted on something that is not even required. At a time when the State Government has been consistently accusing the Central Government of slashing Central assistance to the State, such wastage of money by the authorities in Joshimath belies the claims of development works being hampered in Uttarakhand by fund cuts since the available funds are being used on unwanted constructions, as seen in this case.