With the monsoon setting in, the future of 68 students of the Komira Primary School in Ravikamatham mandal of Anakapalli district hangs precariously by a thread.On Monday, the quiet village of Komira witnessed tense scenes as desperate parents, accompanied by their children, staged a sit-in protest outside the local panchayat office, demanding a safe roof over their children’s heads.Caught up in infra crisisThe school, which caters predominantly to children from marginalised SC, ST, and BC communities from Classes 1 to 5, is caught in a severe infrastructural crisis.Out of its two existing buildings, one has been officially declared a “condemned structure” by government engineers due to severe structural decay. Massive chunks of the concrete slab routinely break off, and the walls leak heavily during rains, making it a death trap.Left with just a single, damp classroom that cannot accommodate 68 students, the school administration has been forced to shift Classes 1 and 2 to a makeshift setup inside a nearby temple of Lord Rama. However, even this temporary arrangement offers little respite. When the skies open up, moisture seeps through the temple walls, turning the learning environment into an ordeal for the young children.“Every rainy season, we send our children to school with immense fear,” said a protesting parent, B. Satthibabu. “We have given multiple representations to local officials, but they casually tell us that proposals for a permanent building have been sent and funds are yet to be sanctioned. How long should our children wait for basic safety?” he questioned.‘Administration apathy’Frustrated by the “administrative apathy”, the protesting parents raised slogans demanding immediate intervention from District Collector Vijaya Krishnan and Education Minister Nara Lokesh.Local tribal leader Polam Raju and CPM district executive member K. Govinda Rao, who joined the stir, urged the administration to immediately tap into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to construct a temporary tin-roof shelter on an available piece of government land in the village.In a poignant display of desperation, the villagers declared that if the government cannot provide the funds, officials should at least formally allocate the vacant land. “If they give us the land, we will pool our own meagre savings and build a temporary shed ourselves. But we cannot let our children’s education and lives be jeopardised,” the parents stated, threatening to intensify their stir at the Mandal Educational Officer’s (MEO) premises if immediate action is not taken. Published - June 08, 2026 08:41 pm IST