School struggles to protect its land
PATNA : A school set up by the father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi needs help. Located barely 13 km southwest of capital Patna in Khagaul, it is struggling to protect its land, all 3.90 acres of it, from land sharks, who have built houses and are blatantly running businesses on it.
Worse still, a new building built two years ago, at a cost of ₹3 cr for a middle school in the name of Bapu in the same campus has not been handed over to the school authorities even after two years of completion. Its windowpanes have been broken and wiring, stolen. The unused building will now require a major renovation and repair if it is to be put to use for the purpose it was built.
The Mahatma laid foundation of this high school christened Gandhi High School, Khagaul in 1919. Back then, people in the area said, the school had 9.3 acres of land, including about four acres donated to Gandhi for setting up his ashram attached to the educational institution. HT couldn’t independently verify this claim. It was the hub of socio-political activities during Gandhiji’s ‘salt march’ in 1929-30, according to school teachers. “But today, the once revered institution named after Bapu is fighting for its survival, as out of nine acres land, barely three acres seem to be intact,” said headmaster Dr Shankar Kumar. He said that in December 24, 2012 the court of DCLR Danapur ruled in favour of the school in an encroachment case. Six years later, the administration failed to free even an inch of the encroached land, he added.
Patna district magistrate Kumar Ravi said on Monday that he was not familiar with the case. “But I will certainly look into the matter. As soon as the headmaster sends me the details, I will initiate action,” he added.
An SOS to the education commissioner and even the chief minister few years ago failed to evoke any positive response. Nawal Kishore Yadav, a BJP MLC said he raised the issue twice in the House in 2012 and 2013, the government assured “speedy action, but to no avail so far.”