THELIGHTOFANDAMANS: Boys' School: A Zone of Destruction

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Boys' School: A Zone of Destruction

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL: 35 | ISSUE: 26 | 03 FEBRUARY 2012

Boys' School: A Zone of Destruction

The Boys' School had four barracks, two halls and six playgrounds including the basketball field that TGCE claimed as its own. A Boys' Hostel had later come up in one of the playgrounds at the farthest westward end. A new block was added on the hilltop for classes X and XI in 1962.

The allotted land was 5000 sq. m but in actuality, 2.00 hectares of land was under its occupation and the Tahsildar, Port Blair confirmed that Boy's School was the sole allottee. The successive benevolent directors of education treated it like the property of the department rather than a historical institution of learning. Slowly the land of Boys' School was found to be the most convenient for all the buildings that the department needed. State Institute of Education, District Institute of Education & Training, Office of the Deputy Education Officer, South Andaman and the State Library everything found a place in the Boy's School Complex.

The number of playground started shrinking so much so that today, there is not a single playground. TGCE initially even did not allow the students of Boys' School to use the basketball court. Fortunately, the basket ball court too is liberated.

The complex resembles more to a construction and destruction zone rather than an educational institution.

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.