Shift hostel to better building, Minister instructs Social Welfare Department

Following complaints of a lack of basic amenities at Morarji Desai Residential School, a government residential school, functioning from a rented building in Shantigrama in Hassan taluk, Excise Minister K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, who is also the Minister-in-charge of Hassan district, has directed officers of the Social Welfare Department to shift the school to a better building at the earliest. 

The school, which has 172 students, including 80 girls, has been functioning out of a private godown as construction of its own building remains incomplete. For the last four years, the school has been housed in the same private building, which lacks basic amenities. The space that serves as the students’ classroom during the day turns into their dwelling place and dining hall by night. The students do not have cots, as there is not enough space to place them, and the number of washrooms is inadequate given the number of students.

Taking note of media reports, Mr. Shivalinge Gowda, who chaired a Praja Seva meeting in Hassan on Saturday, directed Dood Peer, Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department, to ensure the hostel was shifted to a better building at the earliest. The officer told the Minister that he would identify a suitable building within a week.

Addressing the media, Mr. Peer said the government had earlier identified land for the residential school in Shantigrama hobli. However, a section of local residents did not allow the building to come up on the site. The government then identified alternative land, and the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society allotted the construction work to an agency. “The construction may be completed within the next three to four months. By the next academic year, the students will be shifted to an independent building with all facilities,” he said.

He admitted that the rented building did not provide the students with all necessary facilities, adding that no other building was available within the hobli to accommodate the school at the time.