Power struggle between a few members of a trust is jeopardizing the future of students of a 60-year-old institution in the city.
The state government had leased around 2 acres to the General Cariappa Higher Secondary School in Saligramam in 1953 under condition that it ought to be utilised only for educational purposes.
The school, besides educating downtrodden children for decades, has also been training students in vocational courses.
In fact very recently, a vocational course in bakery and confectionaries was introduced with the support of Hot Bread, a retail bakery and confectionary chain.
Meanwhile, a local residents’ welfare association, backed by a member of the board of Seva Samajam Trust that runs a hostel for the school’s students, has alleged that attempts were made by some influential individuals to usurp land used as a playground estimated to be worth Rs 80 crore.
As early as 2008, when a similar complaint had come up, the directorate of School Education had cautioned that it would cancel the agreement and take over the land if it was used for non-educational purpose.
One Mr Kumar, an office bearer of the local residents’ welfare association, who had also written to various government departments complaining about the sub-lease of the land, said that a couple of members of the trust board were planning to sub-lease the land to a few leading corporates.
Senior education department officials, however, said that government land could not be sub-leased and the school and the trust board had only approached them for a “no objection certificate” to allow the certification of the vocational course on bakery and confectionary training.
The school in fact hits the headlines every year when the results are out for public exams with its students topping in vocational courses category.