The Wayanad district administration on Thursday denied permission for the online inaugural function of the newly constructed Plus Two building of the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School at Mundery by Rahul Gandhi, MP, since the organisers failed to seek the prior approval of the parental agency, the State Minority Directorate.
The building was constructed by the District Nirmithi Kendra at a cost of ₹1.2 crore under the Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP).
When the organisers of the programme, the Kalpetta municipality and the school authorities, had made all arrangements for the online inaugural function at 10.30 a.m. on the day, Wayanad District Collector Adeela Abdulla denied permission for the function.
Ms. Adeela told The Hindu that the permission for programme was denied as per the direction of the State Minority Directorate as the organisers had not sought prior approval of the directorate for the programme.
The funding for the MSDP works have been provided by the Centre and the State at a proportion of 60:40. The implementing officer of the projects was the secretary of the block panchayat concerned and there were no role for the local bodies such as grama panchayat or municipality. A district-level committee chaired by the District Collector would monitor the project, Ms. Adeela said.
However, the United Democratic Front (UDF) district committee alleged that it was a conspiracy of the ruling front to tarnish the image of Mr. Gandhi by using the District Collector. They also took out a march to the municipal office here and staged a dharna in front of the collectorate in protest against the move.
