Slur cast on contractors
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 11 2017: Alleging that an amount of Rs 35 lakh, meant for construction of Leingangching Junior High School building under Chandel district, have been siphoned off by the contractors and subcontractors in collusion with some departmental officials, Lamkang Students' Union (LSU) has threatened to launch intense forms of agitation if the school building is not completed before Christmas .

A joint team comprising of members of LSU, Leingangching Village Authority, School Management Development Committee (SMDC) of Leingangching Junior High School as well as a media team inspected the said school building yesterday .

The joint team found that the construction of the school building had only reached the foundation stage and the site was covered with thick grasses and plants .

Speaking to media persons, LSU's president alleged that a special contractor and two other subcontractors, a higher secondary lecturer and a private school teacher, in collusion with some officials of the Education Department's Engineering Cell, have withdrawn around Rs 35 lakh so far without the knowledge of the SMDC.

The matter came to light when the students' union investigated as to why the construction of the school building has not been completed till date even though the work order was issued on September 24, 2015 and why the construction work was left unattended.

All the relevant documents detailing the construction of school buildings were obtained from the ZEO and ADC concerned before the members of the students' union visited the site in the past .

The total cost estimate of the construction work is Rs 48, 30,059 out of which Rs 35 lakh have been withdrawn by the special contractor and the subcontractors in connivance with the officials as per the information culled from the various relevant documents, the president claimed .

Lamenting that classes of Leingangching Junior High School are presently conducted in a room of the village court, LSU's president lamented that the rights of school children in the village have been violated and the frauds have completely ignored the guidelines given in the RTE Act .

Leingangching village chief, DB Thamnok, said that the village authority and SMDC did not have any knowledge regarding the withdrawal of the amount (Rs 35 lakh) as the contractor and sub contractors did not provide any information but the matter came to light only when LSU's members told him as well as SMDC.

Questioning how the said amount was withdrawn by the accused individuals without consulting and sans the signatures of the members of SMDC, the committee's member Daniel Leivon Lamkang claimed that the involved party may have used forged signature while withdrawing the money.

He disclosed that a complaint has been submitted to the RMSA's Director by the Leingangching Village's chief and Leingangching Junior High School Principal in connection with the matter .

Daniel further revealed that the special contractor had even promised to refund some amount to the SMDC in the past, but they have not set foot in the village till date.

The construction work of the school building was reportedly undertaken to upgrade Leingangching Junior High School to high school status.

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