‘Mandapam Panchayat Union Middle School Number 1 Rameswaram’, the alma mater of former President A P J Abdul Kalam went without power in the forenoon on Thursday as the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) disconnected the power supply for non-payment of power tariff for nearly one year.
The officials have disconnected power supply to Mandapam Panchayat Union Primary School at MRT Nagar in Rameswaram for non-payment of tariff, contrary to the general practice that no such ‘drastic action’ was taken against government schools and offices even if they failed to pay the tariff.
After it was brought to his notice, Collector S. Natarajan took up the matter with Superintendent Engineer, TANGEDCO, after which, power supply was restored in the afternoon but not before the students were put to difficulty in using toilets and bought drinking water from outside. An official said it was done by mistake by the local lineman and the power was restored.
School teachers, however, said that local TANGEDCO men visited the school on Wednesday evening and warned that the power supply would be disconnected if they did not clear the outstanding tariff within an hour. When they opened the school on Thursday morning, they found the supply was disconnected, they said.
As the motor could not be operated to fill the overhead tank, the students could not use the toilets, they said. As the reverse osmosis device also could not be operated, they bought drinking water from outside for the students.
The power supply was restored only after 1. 30 p.m., the teachers added. The school has a total strength of 125 students from classes 1 to 8.
Payment
Though all the consumers have to pay the tariff bi-monthly, the government schools in the district pay the tariff on yearly basis through the CEO office, based on demand raised by the revenue department officials in TANGEDCO. Power tariffs of the middle and primary schools amounting to ₹10,700 and ₹8,500 respectively could not be paid as the two schools do not figure in the list of government schools, officials said.
