Assurance on Saradha schools

Siliguri, April 28: Minister Gautam Deb today said he would urge chief minister Mamata Banerjee and state education minister Bratya Basu to see that studies of over 900 students of two schools owned by the Saradha Group were not affected. “The two Lincolns High Schools have over 900 students. As the schools are of the Saradha Group, the guardians are apprehensive about the future of their children. As it is an educational institution and not a realty property of the group, I would take up the issue with the chief minister and the state education minister in Calcutta. We would like to assure the guardians that the state government would see to it that studies of the students are not affected because of punitive actions taken against the group and people associated with it,” Deb said here today. The campuses of the Lincolns High Schools are at Karaibari, 12km from here, and Milanpally in the town. The Karaibari school has classes from I to XII and Milanpally from KG to Class VIII. The Karaibari school is affiliated to the ICSE board. “We are concerned about our children. In the middle of the academic session, it would be a problem to shift them to other schools. The students are also worried,” a guardian said last week. Debendralal Brahmin, a Siliguri resident, said his sister’s family owns the land and building of the school at Milanpally. “My sister’s family owns the 17.5-cottah plot and the two-storied building in Milanpally where the school runs,” Brahmin said. “Ever since the school was opened by the erstwhile owner N.N. Paul (he sold it to Saradha Group in November, 2010), he had been paying the rent till February.” “The last lease agreement was signed in 2006 for 10 years. The school is supposed to pay Rs 27,000 as the monthly rent. But we have not yet received the rent for March. The money is supposed to be paid on the sixth of each month,” Brahmin said. When told that the Saradha Group runs the school now he said: “No formal communication was made to us about the change of ownership. We plan to talk to the school authorities soon.”