schools in West Bengal's Nadia district have no student in their rolls for the last three years but the teachers and other staff are drawing salaries each month.
There are 14 teachers in two schools - Uma Shashi Nimnataro Uchha Balika Bidyalay and Tarak Das Shiksha Sadan Junior High School for girls - who mostly while away their time by reading newspapers, magazines and plain gossiping.
As there are no students in the schools, there are no managing committees either.
Both the schools are housed in good buildings where there are facilities like drinking water, toilets, common rooms and others.
Sources said Khabir Uddin Ahamed, former CPI(M) MP, had
donated Rs two lakh to the Tarak Das Shiksha Sadan Junior High School for girls to erect the school building.
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Shibdas Mukherjee, former Congress MLA from Krishnagar (East) had also donated Rs one lakh to the school for the same purpose.
Deepika Ghosh, headmistress of Umashashi Nimnataro Uchha
Balika Bidyalaya, said, "The student strength has been going down steadily for several years. We drew attention of the state's education authorities and asked for transfer."
Ghosh said some teachers and non-teaching staff had been
transferred to other government or government-aided schools.
"At present, there are seven teachers and two non-teaching staff in the school, which was established in 1969 as part of the government's policy to spread women's education," she said. MORE