MANOJ PATHAK
Bhagalpur, June 12 (IANS) At a time when the country is celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, memories of Anand Mohan Sahay, general secretary of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA) and secretary of Dr Rajendra Prasad, are fading.
People of Bhagalpur are demanding that the Girls High School, the school established by Sahay, should be included in the Smart City plan to renovate it and give it a new life.
Anand Mohan Sahay was born on September 10, 1898, in the family of Lal Mohan Sahay in Puranisarai village of Bhagalpur district.
In 1916, when he was studying in TNB Collegiate High School, he chanted Vande Mataram in front of his Christian teacher, for which he was punished.
During his school days, he got in touch with a revolutionary organisation in Dhaka and started participating in revolutionary activities.
When Sahay was 25 year old, he went abroad and visited many countries including Japan, South East Asian nations and some European countries to unite the Indians living there to fight for the independence of the country. It formed the basis of the formation of the INA.
On the call of Mahatma Gandhi, he left his studies and jumped into the Independence movement. He actively participated in the non-cooperation movement.
He served as private secretary to Dr Rajendra Prasad from 1921 to 1923.
Sahay along with Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Rajendra Prasad toured the country to create public opinion about the struggle for freedom.
When the country got independence in 1947, he was appointed in the foreign service, where he worked in the West Indies and Mauritius. In 1960, he resigned from the foreign service and started educating girls. The Nathnagar Girls High School and Sundarvati Mahila College are examples of this.
Social worker Ashish Banerjee said that by establishing the Nathnagar Girls High School in 1959, Sahay realised the vision of girls’ education. At that time, not a single high school was located within a 10 kilometre radius of the area. Today, even after 61 years after the school’s establishment, the situation is the same.
Banerjee said that due to there being no other school in Nathnagar rural and urban areas, pressure is mounting on the existing educational institute.
Banerjee said that the school with 12 rooms has 3,500 students. Of the 12 rooms, two are being used as office and staff room.
There are over 1000 Urdu students but there is no teacher to teach them the language. The school does not even have a library.
The school has 10+2 status but it does not have teachers to teach Maths, Hindi, Geography, Sociology, among other important subjects.
It has a hostel, but it doesn’t have boundaries or night guards due to which it has not been made operational.
Netaji Youth Federation president Shailendra Sopal said after a lot of effort, a statue of Anand Mohan Sahay has been installed in the premises of the school.
After the inclusion of Bhagalpur in the Smart City project, there was some hope that the school will be included in the project, but in vain as the school still operates under the municipal council.
Prasoon Latant, a journalist who has been brought up in the area, said the the government on the occasion of the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav should rename the organisation in the name of Anand Mohan Sahay and give respect to him.
Shailendra said people of the area are proud of the achievements of the institute.
Bihar deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad’s wife is an alumni of this school.
BJP MLC Dr N.K. Yadav and former MP Subodh Rai have urged the deputy chief minister on this matter. They have also approached the Commissioner, Dayanidhan Pandey and the Mayor of the municipal corporation. For the appointment of teachers and other issues, they have met state Education Minister Vijjay Kumar Chaudhary. So far, they have only got assurances from all of them.
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