The Ekambaranathar temple in Kancheepuram has taken control of the Seetha Kingston School, located on the temple’s property in Poonamallee High Road.
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Sekar Babu on Tuesday handed over the keys of the school to the principal after Chief Minister M.K. Stalin gave assent for the running of the school, considering the future of over 700 students.
Mr. Sekar Babu said the 99-year lease taken by the charitable trust, that ran the school, came to an end in 1998. The institution had been functioning at the site since the 1960s.
The trust had already expressed its inability to run the school. The temple took possession of 32 grounds of land that had remained with the school in July 2020.
The school had previously taken over 44.5 grounds of land. It had handed over 12.5 grounds to the temple in 2010. The temple now owns a total of 110 grounds of land in the locality.
Recently, the Minister said an amount of ₹1.7 crore had been allocated to improve basic amenities in schools and colleges run by the various temples under the control of the department.
Annadhanam scheme
The HR&CE Department will continue providing free lunch till June 21 to attendees and staff at hospitals under the Annadhanam scheme in 11 districts in the State, where COVID-19 numbers had still not fallen, a press release stated.