Odia medium school in Kolkata named after Gopabandhu Das needs Govt attention, watch

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar: The Gopabandhu High School, an Odia medium school in Bhowanipore area of Kolkata in West Bengal had been named after Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das.

Many Odias have been living in West Bengal since long. Even before independence many Odias were living in the erstwhile Bengal. To educate the children of the Odia labourers living in Bengal, Odia legends like Madhu Babu, Gopabandhu Das and Nilakantha Das had established this school. Reportedly, they themselves were teaching in this school.

In the later days, the school was transformed into a High School. However, with time this school is now on the verge of destruction. The school in Bhawanipore is one of the schools that aim to educate the children of the Non Resident Odias who are living in Bengal.

Once upon a time Utkala Gourav Madhusudan Das was living in Bhawanipore area of the then Bengal. Madhu Babu had worked as the English teacher of Ashutosh Mukherjee who was known as Bengal tiger. The house of Janakinath Bose, father of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was here in Bhawanipore.

Before and after independence many freedom fighters have lived here. Hence, they were keen towards development of the Odia School situated in the Beninandan Street of Kolkata. However, the school is in a dilapidated condition now.

The Gopabandhu Shramajibi Vidyalaya had been established by Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das. To provide higher education, later a High School was also established here to impart education in Odia. The West Bengal Govt has recognized this school. However, despite all this, these schools are in a dilapidated state now. The Kolkata Police have marked this building as unsafe. The building has not been repaired since long. Hence, the students are attending classes here in a perilous situation. The parents are worried over this.

As the roof is damaged, water leaks from the roof in the rainy season. Even, water is getting deposited in the class rooms bringing much trouble for the students. As water is also seeping to the office, the teachers are sitting in the veranda. The problem has been brought to the notice of the higher authorities. However, the building is yet to be repaired.

After the secretary to the Education department in Odisha wrote about it to his counterpart in West Bengal, a sum of Rs 1 lakh had been sanctioned. Reportedly, out of this, only Rs 30 thousand has been spent. A proposal of Rs 33 lakh has been made for renovation of the school. However, it is yet to be implemented.

Under these circumstances, as the number of students is dropping in the school day by day, the probability of shutting down of this school cannot be avoided.

Reportedly, the problems had been communicated to former Odisha Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra and Sameer Das. Sameer Das had visited this school to take stock of the situation. He had assured to provide assistance. However, anything is yet to be done. The Odia people of this area have urged the West Bengal govt and Odisha govt pay heed towards development of this school.

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