The late night demolition of NTM School, a government-run school, on N.S. Road in Mysuru has come under sharp criticism with those in favour of saving the historic Kannada school expressing shock as several writers and progressive organisations had been urging the government to safeguard the school.
“The demolition of NTM School has come as a shock. It is nothing but back-stabbing by the government,” said Ms. Malavika Gubbivani, district president, AAP Mysuru. “Activists trusted the government and believed that talks were still on, but the government went ahead and demolished the school, that too at night, demonstrating a cowardly approach.”
“For years, people of Mysuru have been urging the government and elected representatives of all parties to protect and improve the NTM School. Unfortunately, successive governments and politicians of all parties — Congress, BJP and JD(S) — have failed to protect the school. This shows how much these politicians value education.”
At a time when more government schools are needed and the focus should have been on improving the infrastructure and quality of education in government schools, AAP accused the BJP government of doing the exact opposite.
The Chief Minister could have single-handedly saved the school if he had the resolve, she felt.
“NTM School had such a vast campus, which if the government had the good intent, could have been developed into a model government school. What can common people expect from politicians when politicians themselves are running private educational institutions, and improving government schools would be a conflict of interest. People of Mysuru should remember that this is a prime commercial land in the heart of Mysuru that is owned by the public, which has been given away to a private entity,” Ms. Gubbivani said.
With the demolition of the historic school, a part of Mysuru’s history — the dawn of education for the girl child in Karnataka — has been erased. People of Mysuru should think hard while choosing their representatives and choose those who have the welfare of the common people in their mind and heart, she opined.
