Exporter grabs blind school land
7 May 2012 1:07 AM GMT
It seems like civic authorities have turned a blind eye towards a blind school premises.
Andh Vidyalaya, the blind school, located at a posh area in Delhi - Amar Colony in Lajpat Nagar, has been encroached upon by an export house. For the past 10 years, the export house has been running its business from the school premises.
The land was provided by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, in 1965, to build a blind school, which was built finally in 1986, largely due to donations. The school has classes up to standard eight.
However, greed seem to have gotten the better of human values. The founder of the institution has rented out a major portion of the school premises to an exporter who in turn has converted the school’s playground into an Export Hut, depriving the children of the playground.
Social activists and residents of the area lamented that despite several complaints, officials choose to act deaf and mute. The result was that around 175 kids have now fallen prey to greed. The hall of the school, which was used by students earlier, is being used to sell export garments. The open area of the school is also being used as parking lot for customers.
Social Activist, Virender K Gupta, said, 'This institute is for the welfare of the blind students. They are not supposed to deprive students of their space. As a result, students remain indoors most of the time. We have already complained to the Deputy Commissioner of MCD responsible for this area and now we will be complaining to the Governor of the city.'
On the condition of anonymity, a school student said, 'I have been studying in this school for the past three years. Earlier, we used to play in the open area, but now our teachers have instructed us to not to play there.'
When Millennium Post questioned office bearers and the vice principal of the institution, they refused to comment on the issue, saying that the management of the school should be contacted regarding this.
When contacted, the NGO's founder Bansilal Sharma said that due to lack of funding from government bodies they were compelled to rent out the school premises.
'We do not receive timely donations from the donors. But, our monthly expenditure for imparting education, paying salaries to staff and buying books are met through the donations and subscriptions from public and members. We get around Rs 25 lakh in two years from the government, but our total expenditure for the financial year 2010-11 was over Rs 1 crore. It's simple that to run our school and to make up for the deficit, we took this step of giving our space on rent,' said Sharma.
However, according to the residents, the management would have no need to rent the premises. They hold that the school must be charging an exorbitant amount as fees. And the management, they point out, is simply making money out of renting the premises.
A resident of Dayanand Colony said, 'It was a giant hall where students of blind school used to play. It has been turned into an export house. I don't know if that it is on lease or on rent, but hundreds of customers visit this 'Export Hut' daily. Now, students don't have any space to play and they are being forced to play in the veranda in front of their classrooms.'
Even after repeated attempts to contact Deputy Commissioner of MCD, Vikas Anand, was unavailable for comments.
Andh Vidyalaya, the blind school, located at a posh area in Delhi - Amar Colony in Lajpat Nagar, has been encroached upon by an export house. For the past 10 years, the export house has been running its business from the school premises.
The land was provided by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, in 1965, to build a blind school, which was built finally in 1986, largely due to donations. The school has classes up to standard eight.
However, greed seem to have gotten the better of human values. The founder of the institution has rented out a major portion of the school premises to an exporter who in turn has converted the school’s playground into an Export Hut, depriving the children of the playground.
Social activists and residents of the area lamented that despite several complaints, officials choose to act deaf and mute. The result was that around 175 kids have now fallen prey to greed. The hall of the school, which was used by students earlier, is being used to sell export garments. The open area of the school is also being used as parking lot for customers.
Social Activist, Virender K Gupta, said, 'This institute is for the welfare of the blind students. They are not supposed to deprive students of their space. As a result, students remain indoors most of the time. We have already complained to the Deputy Commissioner of MCD responsible for this area and now we will be complaining to the Governor of the city.'
On the condition of anonymity, a school student said, 'I have been studying in this school for the past three years. Earlier, we used to play in the open area, but now our teachers have instructed us to not to play there.'
When Millennium Post questioned office bearers and the vice principal of the institution, they refused to comment on the issue, saying that the management of the school should be contacted regarding this.
When contacted, the NGO's founder Bansilal Sharma said that due to lack of funding from government bodies they were compelled to rent out the school premises.
'We do not receive timely donations from the donors. But, our monthly expenditure for imparting education, paying salaries to staff and buying books are met through the donations and subscriptions from public and members. We get around Rs 25 lakh in two years from the government, but our total expenditure for the financial year 2010-11 was over Rs 1 crore. It's simple that to run our school and to make up for the deficit, we took this step of giving our space on rent,' said Sharma.
However, according to the residents, the management would have no need to rent the premises. They hold that the school must be charging an exorbitant amount as fees. And the management, they point out, is simply making money out of renting the premises.
A resident of Dayanand Colony said, 'It was a giant hall where students of blind school used to play. It has been turned into an export house. I don't know if that it is on lease or on rent, but hundreds of customers visit this 'Export Hut' daily. Now, students don't have any space to play and they are being forced to play in the veranda in front of their classrooms.'
Even after repeated attempts to contact Deputy Commissioner of MCD, Vikas Anand, was unavailable for comments.
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