After nearly five months in the dark, power supply was restored to several government primary schools in Gautam Budh Nagar district on Wednesday afternoon. The restoration of connections came mere hours after The Hindu published a report highlighting the plight of the students.
The district’s Basic Shiksha Department, or primary education department, had failed to clear pending electricity bills of the schools run by it, leading the Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited to cut the connections of some of the schools as a sign of protest. There are a total of 933 primary schools in the district.
After months without power in the intense summer heat, the affected schools got relief on Wednesday after the District Magistrate N.P. Singh ordered both education and power department officials to resolve the issue.
“I have been assured that all primary schools in the district have power connections restored. The issue of payment of bills will be resolved at the level of the secretaries of the department,” said Mr. Singh. The Hindu had visited one school affected by the dispute in Noida’s Sector-41 on Tuesday to find some classes being held outdoors, while students studying inside the dingy classrooms were busy fanning themselves. The school had been without power since April as it had accumulated a bill of Rs.1.08 lakh, but on Wednesday the fans and lights were finally switched on.
After The Hindu reached out to the District Magistrate on Tuesday afternoon for a comment, the education and power departments were asked to immediately restore the connections.
“I pulled up the officials responsible in the education and power departments. There is a process to resolve departmental disputes, we can’t allow the electricity supply to be hindered,” said Mr. Singh.
Meanwhile, officials said that the bills, which run in several lakhs, had not been cleared yet.
After months without power in the intense summer heat, the affected schools got relief on Wednesday
