Sainik School building in a shambles

The building of the only Sainik School of Punjab, housed in the Jagatjit Palace of Kapurthala, is crumbling. Worse, the Public Works Department (PWD) has recently declared a large part of the building unsafe.

The plaster from the roof of the building, including classrooms and the library, have been falling. The 607 cadets studying here, including 45 girls, have been forced to attend classes in the verandah. Since the weather is getting cold, the authorities are mulling a plan to set up pre-fabricated classrooms as an alternative arrangement till the repairs are done or an alternative building is readied.

Jagatjit Palace was the residence of erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, which was architecturally designed like the Versailles Palace in France. The building is 124-year-old.

The Sainik School started functioning in this building from 1961. Since no major repair work has been undertaken since then, the condition of the building has been getting worse.

During the Akali regime, it was proposed that the school be shifted out of the palace building and a new school building be set up. But the move was strongly opposed by the Old Boys Association, which has a strong emotional attachment with the heritage building, and the proposal was stalled.

A proposal on almost similar lines has been made by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. "A new and modern building can be constructed by the state government in the vacant land available on the same premises of the palace into where the Sainik School can be shifted. The rapidly deteriorating condition of the palace can also be prevented if the palace premises is handed back to the state government to be restored and put to proper alternative use that will take care of the upkeep of the heritage property," CM Mann had written to the Union Defence Minister a year ago.

The PWD had also proposed that a private agency be hired for preparing a DPR of the repair of the building. A rough estimate, however, suggests that at least an amount of Rs 20 crore was required for its repair work

The old boys, including officials from the Armed Forces, paramilitary forces and the police, who keep on visiting the school and are aware of all developments, are of the opinion that it was important to save the school and the heritage and, hence, raising a new building was the only solution.

The staff of the school have been demanding a quick solution from the state government and the Ministry of Defence for the safety of the students. JM Balamurugan, Additional Chief Secretary, Defence Services Welfare, Punjab, said, "The school is run by the Sainik School Society which has to take the final call. Even the Ministry of Defence is yet to respond to our proposal on the construction of a new building. From our side, we have been doling out a grant of Rs 3 crore to the school every year for repair and this year we would be giving Rs 4 crore or even more."