Classes empty as Bihar, Jharkhand fight on school

It was one of the few government institutions doing well in Bihar. But left to their own, the Bihar and Jharkhand governments look set to ch...

It was one of the few government institutions doing well in Bihar. But left to their own, the Bihar and Jharkhand governments look set to change that.

Three years after the two states were carved out of one, the prestigious Neterhat Residential School in Jharkhand’s Palamau district is still caught in the bifurcation row. No admissions have been made for three years, salaries haven’t been paid to teachers for three months and for the first time, there are no students in its Classes VI, VII and VIII as there have been no fresh enrolments.

As one of the school’s 38 teachers, R.C. Shukla, says: ‘‘Things were never so bad as they are today.’’ Established thirty-nine years ago with around 600 students on its rolls, Neterhat Residential School has a long list of distinguished alumni. Despite the fact that its medium of education is Hindi, its students regularly feature in the merit list in Bihar School Examination Board’s Class X results. Students are admitted Class VI onwards only after a written test.

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Among its well-known alumni are mathematician Vashisht Narain Singh, former in-charge of the PM’s Security T. Mishra, a host of civil service officers and academicians.

The problem started with the bifurcation of Bihar in 2000. Last year, the Union HRD Ministry finally worked out a formula under which the school’s management was to rest with the Jharkhand government, with Bihar and Jharkhand sharing seats and funds required to run the school on a 75:25 basis. Nearly Rs 4 crore is incurred annually on maintenance of this school and Bihar was asked to deposit its share pending for three years latest by June 30, 2003.

When Bihar failed to do this last month, Jharkhand declared it had enough. ‘‘Now we will not accept any money from Bihar. Neither will we allow Bihar to have any seat in this school,’’ says Secretary (Human Resources) Amit Khare.

Perhaps realising the outcry it could face, the Bihar government recently took out an advertisement saying it wanted to pay its dues. Jharkhand, however, will have none of it.

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Incidentally, in the meantime, both Bihar and Jharkhand have been conducting written tests for admissions.