Several hundred members of the ‘Old Laitkorians Association’ (alumnus of Assam Rifles Public School, Shillong) have petitioned to the Prime Minister, Home minister, HRD minister, MoS Home and DGAR to ‘Save ARPS’ from closing down.
In the petition, the former students took serious note of the notice issued on December 30, 2015 by its management committee (Bursar) informing that the “school is unable to provide salary to the staff and that the school will be closed down on 1st April, 2016).
Expressing serious concern that a premier institute of the North East would be closed down, hundreds alumni from India and abroad took to signature campaign urging government of India to save the school that has produced renowned army officers, doctors, businessmen to advocates etc. who have been serving the nation.
Citing “bankruptcy” as the reason to shut down the school, others claim that it was due to alleged financial mismanagement.
The petition was signed to be sent to Union HRD minister, Smirti Irani, MoS Home Kiren Rijiju and DGAR.
ARPS which is over 35 years now, is under the Assam Rifles (DGAR) governed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and sponsored by the NEC. Most of the students from the North East including Nagaland have benefited from the school.
The public school was established in 1980 by the then Director General Assam Rifles Lt Gen Sushil Kumar at Laitkor, Shillong.
It is said that the school was established painstakingly, at times even by selling fired ammunition shells from different units of AR, to garner funds.
The CBSE-affiliated school is now run by an autonomous body, ARPS Society, registered under the Societies Act. The Board of Governors is headed by the DGAR and the School Management Committee headed by the Additional DGAR.
However, now the school management has issued closure notices to its 120 staff and parents of 563 students citing bankruptcy.
The parents were asked to collect the transfer certificates of their wards by April 1 before the school’s closure, as per documents available with The Assam Tribune.
The genesis of the problem lies in payment of staff salaries. The teaching and non-teaching staff drew pay and allowances as per the 4th and 5th Central Pay Commission (CPC). But the school management refused to revise the pay and allowance of the staff and bring it at par with the recommendation of the 6th CPC.
The staff took the school management to Court. After several years of legal wrangling, which finally reached the Supreme Court, the Apex Court decided in favour of the staff in July, 2015.
But the school management has now decided to close down the school claiming its inability to fulfill the Supreme Court’s order, as it was bankrupt.
According to The Assam Tribune report, sources say, for the time being, all that is required is an amount of Rs 10 to Rs 15 crore to bail this prestigious school out from its present financial mess. This amount can be sourced from the North Eastern Council, Union Human Resource Development Ministry or several other ways, of course with financial prudence.
Moreover, sources say, from 1997, the school has transferred money worth crores to the DGAR Accounts Branch, as corpus savings of the school. With interest calculated the amount would have swelled to not less than Rs. 8 crore so far, the report stated.