Khilnani students get school back

MUMBAI, April 29: They had assembled thrice before, hooting at the government for shutting down their school. The New Year also saw a delega...

MUMBAI, April 29: They had assembled thrice before, hooting at the government for shutting down their school. The New Year also saw a delegation of students marching to the Vidhan Sabha, shouting slogans against the state government, demanding their premises back.

Today, the same crowd assembled at the K J Khilnani School at Dadar, but under very different circumstances: their waving arms and bursts of jubilation signified victory, after a hard-fought battle with the government retrieved their school, which had been shut down on December 31, 1997.

The announcement came on April 23, when Chief Minister Manohar Joshi told the Legislative Council that he would hand over the property back to the school management and loan it Rs 3 crore to help it purchase the land from its original owners. The school8217;s closure followed a decision by the government to return the property on which the school was located to its owners in accordance with a Supreme Court judgement pertaining to the Rent Act. The apex court haddirected the state government to return all government-requisitioned premises to their original owners, following which the state government amended the Rent Act to protect the interests of 600 categories of tenants. The school, however, was a casualty.

Strident protests from both students, their parents and the Opposition since the beginning of 1997 compelled the chief minister to change his mind.

Rajan Bhosle, an executive member of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, who had supported the agitation, told Express Newsline, quot;The government has also promised to loan the management Rs 3 crore, which is the valuation of the premises to be given to the land owner.quot; However, senior teacher A S Auti, maintains: quot;The school management is no longer interested in running the school. Hence, the parents and teachers will constitute the new management. The Rs 3 crore loan is payable in installments, the details of which are yet to be worked out.quot;

About 200-odd parents assembled at the school at 10.30 amtoday, their wards all dressed up for the victory celebration. The children8217;s joy knew no bounds. Says Kalpesh Jain, who was relocated in a Mahim school, quot;I would love to come back to my old school. I can also commute on my father8217;s scooter as the school is not far from our residence at Lower Parelquot;. Kalpesh, a standard II student was forced to travel by train to his new school. Kashinath Jadav, who resides at Dadar, says he plans to enroll both his sons back in the Khilnani School when it reopens. He says his children, one in Std IV and the other in Std VIII, faced serious adjustment problems adapting to a new school.

However, three other schools in Dadar remain closed for the same reasons which saw the K J Khilnani School shutting its doors. However, Bhosle says the Khilnani development bodes well for the Rammohan School, Dadar, whose premises have not yet been returned to the original owners.