ROURKELA: Feud between two factions of people has resulted in closure of Tangrani High School in Girjatoli hamlet of Kuanrmunda block for the last nine days. A faction led by one Ambrose Xess, Peter Gudia and Prakash Sindur and Father Fabian Bhuiyan has been demanding restoration of the management of the school to the CatholicBoard of Education (CBE), Rourkela. However, 10 school staffers led by Headmaster Philip Kullu want it to continue as a block grants school under government control.It is a private school when it was opened in 1988 on 4.85 acre land donated by a village woman Jhalo Oram. Later, the CBE took control of it till the government granted 40 per cent block grant in 2004 which was enhanced to 60 per cent in 2008.From Class VIII to X, the school has 150 students with eight classrooms and hostel facility built with the funds provided by Rourkela Steel Plant and other organisations. Problem cropped up after the government directly began paying salaries to school staff, sidelining the CBE. The tug of war took an ugly shape on September 12 when the school was illegally locked and posters in Oriya were found on the school premises, demanding minority tag to the school. A police complaint in this regard was lodged by the school headmaster on September 15. The faction supporting CBE accused the school staff of not taking classes regularly and said that since above 90 per cent of the students in the school are Christians it should be made a minority educational institution. The headmaster said as the school was entitled to government grant as a general category school, the demand of CBE was unjustified. Sundargarh Collector Rupa Roshan Sahu said she was waiting for the inquiry report before taking appropriate action.
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