Ratan Lal Nath visits three primary schools in town, shocked by pitiable conditions

A rude shock awaited new education minister Ratan Lal Nath : he was aware of the pathetic condition of infrastructure and human resources in schools but what he physically saw was enough to send him to a tizzy. Accompanied by Shyamali Debbarma, deputy director in charge of midday meals in education department, Nath first visited the Bodhjung Girls Primary School (No-4 JB)and found that official record of attendance of students did not match with physical presence of students. This obviously was tailor-made record to manipulate midday meals which is now a money-spinner in many schools. Apart from this, Nath also found a ‘Kokborok’ teacher in the school drawing a salary of Rs 50 thousand a month but the language is never taught in the school. 

Much to his shock Ratan Lal found two prominent posters adorning the walls of Shishu Bihar primary school urging upon teachers to attend an ‘open rally’ of the left. He ordered is personal security officers to remove the posters which died a dusty death. The toilets and urinals in the school were also found in an extremely filthy condition as the minister himself tested the tapes in bath room and the cover of the commode. The teachers failed to furnish any satisfactory reply to why the bathrooms and toilets were in such a poor condition. He also found a number of teachers absent from the school without filing any application in advance. He asked two primary students if they knew the name of the chief minister of the state and , for a change, both the students could correctly write the name of the chief minister on the black board with correct spelling. A discrepancy in the record of attendance and actual presence of students was also noticed in the Shishu Bihar Primary School also. 

The education minister spoke to the guardians waiting outside the school and took their reactions to the condition in the school, Reiterating the stand of the government that every effort will be made to improve the standard of education in the school. He asserted that the government was not interested in punishing the teachers but wanted them to mend their ways. ‘I have found two prominent posters in the teachers common room which I think is objectionable ; teachers are free to exercise their right to forming and participating in associations but that must be outside the school’ said Nath . Till latest reports came in , Ratan Lal Nath has entered the ‘Bani Vidyapith Girls Higher Secondary School’.

By a coincidence of schedules both the chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb and deputy chief minister Jishnu Debbarman are currently out of the state. The chief minister left for Delhi yesterday to attend a meeting with union home ministry over the repatriation of Reang tribal refugees stranded in six north Tripura camps over past more than twenty years . This has become almost an intractable issue with a section of leaders of refugees refusing to let the repatriation process move forward by citing one pretext or another . In the meeting which is on today the Mizoram government is likely to raise the issue of deliberate opposition to the process crated by the leaders of refugees. Tripura government and the union home ministry are keen to have the refugees repatriated as they came here from October 15 1997. The chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb is expected to make the position of his government clear on the issue by calling for earliest possible repatriation.

Apart from this, the deputy chief minister Jishnu Debbarman is now Simla ,capital of Himachal Pradesh, to attend a meeting of state power ministers . The meeting is likely to take important decisions on the power sector in the country and tariff structure. Both are expected to return to the state on Wednesday.