Hyderabad: Govt blind school hits blind alley

Hyderabad: The snail pace construction works of the Government School for Blind (boys) at Darulshifa has been crying for official apathy as it has been more than three years since the school was demolished and a new one is still being constructed. The visually impaired school in the Old City is not well maintained well, lacks basic facilities and no proper food is being provided to students.

Students with blind disability alleged that the concerned authorities of the Government blind school have not providing them food and are sometimes forced to starve for one whole day. "We students of the blind school are sometimes not served for one whole day as the chef had not cooked the food. Proper food has become a distant dream for us," said a student at Government Blind School in Darulshifa.

"Even though the NGOs provide pulses to the school, still we are not served food for many days in a month as the chef does not cook food," alleged students.

During the inspection of the Darulshifa area, the Pathergatti Corporator Syed Sohail Quadri inspected the Blind school and found that the students have starved for an entire day. He spoke to the students and came to know that they are being harassed by the warden and food is not being served to them on time.

"When I spoke to the students, they said that they have not eaten food for one day (Tuesday) and on Wednesday till lunch. They also said that no care is being taken by the caretaker. Students urged the Corporator to change the warden, as they are being harassed by the teachers and warden," said Sohail Quadri.

"I spoke to the school headmaster and asked him to take care of the blind students and if possible, change the warden as she is harassing the kids. I asked them to cook food for lunch, and I had lunch with students," he added.

However, the Telangana High Court, in April directed the State government to provide required facilities in hostel and school within four weeks. But this Government School for Blind is still in a bad shape. As a part of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan scheme, for the 80-year-old blind school which is the world's best blind school in yesteryears, the state government has sanctioned Rs 1.53 crore for the construction of new buildings housing both hostel and classrooms.

Mohammed Ahmed, a social activist said, "The schools do not have even one government-appointed teacher and food is not served to them properly. When one complains, the warden is being strict to them and torturing the students. There is also lack of basic facilities and toilets are located few metres away from school and hostel premises to which the blind students have being facing difficulties. There is no proper drinking water facility either." The authorities demolished a hostel three years ago and are yet to complete the construction of a new one. Over 50 students are allegedly forced to study, eat and sleep in three classrooms.