Lucky draw at Government Girls Higher Secondary School raises eyebrows

ALAPPUZHA: Lucky draw coupons worth Rs 50 each sold by Government Girls Higher Secondary School Cherthala here for infrastructure development has now courted a controversy. The school management has allegedly printed 17,000 coupons offering a motorcycle (first), flat TV (second) and refrigerator (third) as prizes. Though the AEO asked them to stop it and return the money they collected, as per a June 20 RTI reply, they got no details.

A 2012 DPI directive on school management committees stipulates that they should provide details funds they collect to the AEO. When contacted, headmaster K.V. Peter refused to divulge details but said they decided to raise at least Rs 5 lakh. They went for the “lottery,” he said, as the government had not provided maintenance funds. “It was an attempt to make it competent,” he told DC.

K. Kannan who complained to AEO and Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) alleged that girls were sent to residents to sell the coupon. “A girl student came to my home with a Rs 50 coupon on June 12. When I checked, I came to know that the minor girl had a task of collecting Rs 1,000,” he said. He said the authorities took no action against the headmaster on his complaint. But the school issued a statement offering to return the money they collected. J. Sandhya, the KeSCPCR member in charge of the district, said she had received a complaint, and they were looking into it.