School in disrepair, girl has close shave

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, July 20, 2007
A Class V student had a miraculous escape in school on Thursday, when a large chunk of the roof missed her by inches. But, what was more horrifying was the humiliation that her father had to face, when he had gone to school to check for himself.
Chandrika Ghosh studying at Maharishi Vidya Mandir in Tollygunge had a close shave when a piece of concrete from the ceiling missed her by a whisker when she was walking down the corridor. A shaken Chandrika reported the matter to her father Sanjoy. He went to the school on Friday to see for himself what had happened. He was refused entry, rebuked and virtually thrown out by principal B Nag.
“Being a father, it is my right to know whether the place where my child is studying is safe. So I urged the principal to allow me to see the condition of the building where my daughter is taking her classes. But she refused and threatened to throw me outside by calling the guards,” said Sanjoy.
Angry and frustrated Sanjoy lodged an FIR with Jadavpur police station. “Without renovation and ensuring proper safety of the students how can the school authority run classes in that old building? It was just a matter of luck that she is safe,” he said.
Run by Maharishi Vidya Mandir Trust, which has over 20 schools across the country, the Tollygunge school is constructing a 5-storeyed building, which would be complete in a year. “But what happens to our children till the new building is ready? Why can’t they shift classes to some other place for the time being,” asks Sanjoy.
When we tried to contact the principal, we were refused and later in the day when HT visited the school, it was already closed. A school employee on the condition of anonymity confirmed that a large chunk had indeed fallen from the ceiling. “Since a new building is being constructed there is no point wasting money on the old one. However, necessary renovation will be done,” he said. Brigadier G.S. Sandhu, director of personal administration at the Maharishi Vidya Mandir national office in Bhopal, disowned the school. “It is true that our website shows we have a school in Kolkata, but we do not have any school in that city. We will be able to confirm its existence only after checking our records, which needs a days’ time,” he said.
“It is a good school and there are no other good schools nearby. So while I am not thinking of changing my daughter’s school, I want school authorities to undertake necessary repairs and not victimise my child because I raised my voice,” said Sanjoy.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com