Gurukul students long for good food

Vikarabad: The residential school run by the social welfare department here has, of late, resembled more or less a hog pen.

The state government has been spending several crores of rupees for the construction and maintenance of these residential schools for the benefit the under-privileged every year. However, the poor maintenance and lack of supervision over these schools have resulted in these schools turning into pigsties.

The case in point is the Social Welfare Gurukul School constructed at a cost of Rs. 9 crore at Anantagiripalli here. The construction was undertaken with state-of-art technology and it was inaugurated by Minister for Handlooms and Textiles G Prasad Kumar during the visit of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to Vikarabad. Parents of the students allege that the maintenance of this schools less than desirable and the supervision is horrible. The principal and the teachers of the school, who are supposed to live in the quarters provided for them on the premises, live in Hyderabad leaving everything virtually to the attendars.

Presently, the strength of the residential school is 400 students. The food is barely cooked and less said better about the cuisine. Due to the shortage of staff, the students are compelled to serve the food to everyone. Unhygienic conditions prevail on the school premises. There is every danger of students falling sick due to these adverse conditions in the school, said the parents of these students expressing their anguish. The toilets are not cleaned regularly resembling short of pigsties. During the night time, all the lights are switched off leaving the students in total darkness. There is no responsible person in the school to inform the parents in case any untoward incident occurred, the parents allege.Noticeably the school is situated in the constituency of Minister for Handlooms and Textiles G Prasad Kumar that too in the headquarters where his camp office is situated.

One could imagine the schools situated in the interior villages in the rest of the State. The parents of the students appeal to the minister and the officials of Social Welfare department to take initiative to set things right in the school.