The Times of India 09.09.2009

CHENNAI: Following a report that appeared in the Times of India on Tuesday regarding the misuse of a school run by the city corporation, mayor M Subramanian suspended two staff members of the local body, including a junior engineer. They were held responsible for allowing the conduct of a feast on the school premises in Nammalvarpet, near Purasawalkam.

According to an official release, the mayor, along with senior officials from Ayanavaram zone, visited the school and conducted an inquiry in the morning. Subsequently, Subramanian placed a junior engineer and conservancy inspector under suspension. "They should not have allowed individuals to take over the premises without prior permission. Our action should serve as an example to all those who do mischief," Subramanian told TOI.

The mayor also wanted the education department to serve a memo to the school headmistress. Though the school was not functioning from the first day of the academic year, after its merger with a nearby middle school the corporation had granted the head of the institution permission to run the school so that the middle school classrooms could be used by high school students. "But the headmistress failed to oblige. Had she heeded our orders, the feast would not have taken place," a senior education department official said.

On Monday, a senior office bearer of the ruling DMK party had organised a grand feast for his supporters on the premises of a corporation primary school, not caring for rules and regulations. The school in Subburayan First Street in Nammalvarpet wore a festive look since early morning. The house-warming ceremony of V Anandan, a functionary of the north Chennai wing of the DMK was being conducted there, with Purasawalkkam MLA V S Babu, Ayanavaram zonal committee chairperson V J Seenivasan and scores of partymen in attendance.