Lack of funds and restrictions on clearing bills have affected the functioning of BUDS School and Rehabilitation Centre, with a student strength of 42, at Thalachira.
While the staff members have not received their salaries for the last three month, food and transportation bills too remain uncleared.
“The school is under the Vettikavala grama panchayat and we have been told that the bills could not be cleared due to treasury restrictions. We expected salary arrears last month as it was Onam, but the situation remained the same. By next week, the staff will be working without any remuneration for four months. One of the ayahs is a widow with a differently abled daughter and we all are in dire straits,” said a teacher.
The school and BRC have students in all age groups with varying degrees of intellectual disabilities from mild and moderate to severe and profound.
Every day the school vehicle picks and drops the students from their homes and they are given free meals and snacks at school.
“We get a six-month credit period for buying rice and other provisions from Consumerfed, but we also buy vegetables, milk and snacks from other vendors. The vehicle will not be available from next month if we don’t pay the contractor. It will bring the functioning of the school to a halt as the students won’t be able to commute otherwise,” the teacher said.
The school started functioning eight years ago and at present it has five staff members, including two teachers and three ayahs.
Meanwhile, Vettikavala grama panchayt officials said that the local body will take immediate steps to address the issue.
“It happened due to a small negligence as we cannot use panchayat’s own fund for the school. The project is entirely dependent on Plan fund and it’s also a joint project. But it’s only a temporary glitch and the problem will be solved,” said an official.
