PUNE, July 23: Both the schools and community halls of Pune Cantonment Board seem to be serving another purpose instead of the original intent of educating children and persuading citizens to pursue leisure activities, allegedly providing an ideal space for illegal gambling dens.The matter came up for discussion at the last board meeting where elected member Gautam Mahajan alleged that some of the cantonment schools, presently under fire for failing to provide quality education owing to lax security, had resulted in indiscriminate use by local residents. During holidays, some of the local elements could be seen indulging in a game of cards and also gambling, he charged.Board president Brig Mathew Mammen confirmed this saying that the board had received complaints regarding illegal activities in some of the schools. Taking this into account, the board has decided to hire a private security agency to deal with the problems.Although watchman had been deputed in some of the schools, they did not serve the purpose. According to the CEO J Sharma, some of schools also had quarters for some watchmen. Vice-president Shrikant Mantri said that the board, in all likelihood will depute the services of the security agency hired at Muktidham.Not just the schools, but some of the community halls built with the intention of providing citizens a place to pursue their leisure activities such as reading and indoor games have also witnessed a similar change, some of the residents alleged. They also alleged that the two community halls, located near Solapur Bazaar and Bhimpura Road now had become a major nuisance to the locals since anti-social elements continued to dominate these areas.Brig Mammen said that he will look into this issue and also explained that the community hall, situated near Parmar dispensary had been converted into a railway reservation centre since it had ceased to serve its original purpose. He also hinted at the possibility of letting out one of these two halls to the cantonment court.
