Students in distress as Centre to stop funding DRDO-run Kendriya Vidyalaya

Parents and students at the DRDO-run Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) in CV Raman Nagar, East Bengaluru, are shocked by the central government’s decision to stop funding the school.

The Centre has decided to discontinue funding for projects run by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It recently sent the CV Raman Nagar school a written communication in this regard.

The communication has led to rumours that the school may be closed down by the end of this calendar year.

School sources and the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan said that more than 2,000 children are currently studying in various classes. Following the Centre’s decision, other schools under the DRDO are trying to transfer the management to the other Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan schools or to private institutions. “A few are on the verge of closing down due to lack of support,” an official explained.

The communication sent to the school, a copy of which has been seen by DH, reads: “It is intimated that a policy decision was promulgated during 2020-21 to terminate the central funding of DRDO-run project schools. An effort was made over the last year to hand over the running of DRDO schools to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) but to no avail. During a meeting held in New Delhi on January 13, 2022, it was decided that no central funding for running DRDO-aided schools will be released by DRDO headquarters after March 31, 2022.”

The communication also said formalities concerning the transfer of schools to local societies or their closures should be completed by December 31, 2022.

“The KV, DRDO, at CV Raman Nagar in Bengaluru, is one such DRDO-aided school, which is likely to see a change in management from KVS to some private society after March 31, 2022,” the communication stated.

“There are quite a few wards of the service persons studying in this school as the service persons are posted on tenure with the various DRDO labs in Bengaluru. It is certain that a few students will seek a transfer for the next academic session to continue to be under the aegis of KVS/AWES,” it said, adding that an appeal has also been made to other KVs to accept intra-city transfers in 2022-23.

Dr N Vasanth, an assistant commissioner at the KVS Bengaluru regional office, said he was not aware of the development. Sources at the school confirmed to this reporter that efforts were underway to continue the school. “We’ll be writing to the DRDO headquarters,” a source from the school said.

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