New schoolbuilding sans toilet, boundary wall in Bhiwani village

Bhiwani, April 4

The new building of Government Middle School for Girls is being constructed in Jamalpur-2 village in Bhiwani district sans toilets and a boundary wall. Since the work is running behind schedule, students are made to attend classes in a congested dharamshala in the village.

Students inconvenienced

School students are currently attending classes in a nearby ‘dharamshala’ of the village. The work is running behind schedule causing inconvenience to the students. Rajesh Kumar, Sarpanch

Advertisement

No provision of toilet in pact: Contractor

Devraj Garg, contractor, who was allotted the construction work, maintained that the building was almost complete and he would hand over the building to the Education Department within a week. However, the contractor stated there was no provision of a toilet and boundary wall in the contract allotted to him.

The Education Department officials said the new school building was being constructed under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) project in the village. Though the work started during the first wave of Covid, the work got delayed due to the labour crunch.

Village sarpanch Rajesh Kumar said the school students were currently attending classes in a nearby dharamshala of the village. He maintained that the work was running behind schedule causing inconvenience to the students. Kumar said he came to know that there was no toilet in the newly constructed building which was mandatory part of the building, especially for a school meant for girls.

The contractor who was allotted the construction work, Devraj Garg, maintained that the building was almost complete and he would hand over the building to the Education Department within a week. However, the contractor stated, there was no provision of a toilet and boundary wall in the contract allotted to him. “I am not aware of the reasons behind the omission of a toilet and boundary wall in the tender for the construction of the building,” he said. Garg admitted that he had missed the deadline by about 4-6 months due to the Covid 19 crisis when there was shortage of construction labourers. Sukhpal Singh, Block Education Officer, Bawani Khera, maintained that It was a must for a school building to have a toilet and also a boundary wall. He said he was unaware of the issue. He said there were around 130 students in the school who wereattending classes at a dharamshala in the village.