Building built 9 years ago, school yet to open in Ganjam colony
Govt is yet to give permission to start the school, they said.
After Phailin hit the Ganjam coast on Oct 12, 2013, and damaged thousands of kutcha houses, the state govt initiated the ODRP project to provide disaster-resilient houses with basic amenities to affected families. As many as 203 families of Gajapatinagar, Binchanapalli and Padmapur under Ramagada gram panchayat in Ganjam block were rehabilitated to Dalkhai on the Palur-Malud Road highway.
"The name of our rehabilitated colony is Dalkhai ODRP. The govt has constructed a beautiful school building and anganwadi centre by spending more than Rs 1 crore, but it has been lying unused for the past nine years. Around 60 students from our colony are travelling to either Gajapatinagar or Palur for school education," said Dandapani Behera, president of the Dalkhai ODRP village committee.
He said students travel around 3km to reach their school.
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"Children have to use the highway every day, and there is a fear of accidents. We have written letters to the district education officer, local MLA, school and mass education secretary and chief secretary, but we are yet to get a positive response," he added.
Ganeswar Behera, secretary of the village committee, said they were rehabilitated to a secluded place between two hills. "Now 576 people stay in the colony. The kids travel 3-4km daily to attend schools.
Sometimes they are not able to go to school on rainy days due to the distance. We want a school in our village. We have the infrastructure and required students, but we need the govt nod to start the school," he added.
District education officer (DEO), Ganjam, Ajay Kumar Patra, said they will visit the site and conduct a field inquiry to collect necessary data before sending a proposal to the govt. "We will go through the representation and then take steps on the matter," he added.
Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) director Ananya Das said she will follow up on the matter with the department.
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