23 years of darkness: Fatehpur school waits for electricity

Government Primary School, Mandlai, located in a remote village of the Nagaal gram panchayat in the neighbouring Fatehpur Assembly constituency, continues to face utter neglect from successive state governments. Established in December 2002, the school has never been provided with an electricity connection — an omission that has stretched on for 23 years. Once boasting a two-digit enrolment, the school today has only a handful of students left.

The children enrolled here face severe hardship, especially during the summer and humid weather conditions, as their classrooms have no fans. Many parents have shifted their children to distant schools outside the village to ensure better facilities. The school functions with only one woman JBT teacher, who is compelled to manage both teaching and Class IV duties. Adding to its woes, the school lacks a pucca approach road and even a boundary wall. Although the education department has installed wiring and light fittings, the electricity supply connection has never been provided.

The school building was inaugurated with much fanfare on December 12, 2002, by the then local MLA and Revenue Minister Rajan Sushant, yet he failed to ensure the provision of electricity. His successor MLAs also did little to rectify the situation. The school, once a necessity for this backward village, has now become a symbol of administrative neglect.

As per inquiries, students from the village must walk 3-4 km to reach Government Middle Schools at Kolhadi and Anoh for middle-standard classes. For secondary education (Classes IX to XII), they travel nearly 7 km to Government Senior Secondary School, Dhameta. Interestingly, the school escaped merger under the government’s yardstick — schools with single-digit enrolment can be merged only if another school exists within a 2-km radius.

Local social activist Ramesh Dutt Kalia said electricity is a basic necessity for every school, yet children here are being deprived of it. He threatened to stage a dharna outside the office of the Block Elementary Education Officer (PEEO), Fatehpur, along with residents of Mandlai village if the department fails to provide electricity within the next 23 days.

Meanwhile, Balwan Singh, BEEO Fatehpur, said an estimate of Rs 1.50 lakh, prepared by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL), was submitted to the higher authorities on October 15 for installing electricity poles and providing a power connection to the school premises.