The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Rent row: primary school locked out

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Wednesday, Jul 08, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rent row: primary school locked out

Special Correspondent

Three years’ rent dues to be cleared, says owner of premises

— Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

High and dry: Students of a government primary school are virtually thrown onto the roads as the owner locks up the premises.

Hyderabad: Education is helping a child realise his potentialities. But how sincere is the government in this endeavour? Well, it wouldn’t care less if a school is closed down for default in payment of rent.

This actually happened at Nawab Saheb Kunta in the old city when the owner of a private premises locked the Government Primary School II on Tuesday for non-payment of rent for the last three years. Students and teachers who arrived at the school at 9.30 a.m. found the gate locked and their attempts to get it opened failed as the owner Khaja Begum wouldn’t oblige until the rent dues were cleared.

For the next three hours they squatted on the steps as local residents, members of COVA and media gathered. In the meantime a small boy Sajid fainted sitting in the hot sun and was carried home by his mother. The van carrying the mid-day meal also came and left as there was no way it could serve food to the children.

Khaja Begum, a widow, said the school moved in her building on June 5, 2006. The PWD officials fixed the monthly rent at Rs. 2,240 at the rate of Rs. 5 per sft. “I made several trips to the DEO’s office at Gunfoundary and every time I was told the file is missing,” said Khaja Begum.

Mohd. Mohinuddin, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bahadurpura, admitted that the rent was due but expressed his helplessness as budget was not allotted for this purpose. What is amusing is this school has a record of sorts in not paying rent. Earlier it functioned from another rented premises in the same area and was irregular in payment of rent. When the building owner Mahboob Husain, locked the premises the school shifted to the present location. Recently the Government Primary School, Kalapather, situated at Amjad-ud-Dowla Bagh too shifted to another building when the landlord insisted on payment of rent, said Rasheed Ahmed, convenor, Forum for Improvement of Government Schools.

The Nawab Saheb Kunta school was finally opened at 12.40 p.m after the Bahadurpura legislator, Moazam Khan, intervened. He called up the district Collector, Navin Mittal, and apprised him of the situation. The latter promised to clear all dues within a week.

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