×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Maharaja's High School building gets Rs 3 crore fund for renovation works

Last Updated 25 September 2017, 18:38 IST

This Dasara season, there is some good news for preserving and conserving the heritage structures of the city.

Following a lone protest by an illustrious alumnus of the Maharaja’s High School and Maharaja’s Pre-university College in the city on July 14, the 223rd anniversary of its founder Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the state government has sanctioned Rs 3 crore for the repair and renovation works.

The government has already released Rs 1.5 crore, according to a press note from B S Sridhar Raj Urs, president of the college alumni association, M R Suresh, secretary and N Suresh Kumar, treasurer.

It has to be recalled that 75-year-old Sridhar Raj Urs, a retired director of PU Education and Vocational Education, a former principal of the college and also, an old student of the school sat for a one-day fasting (upavasa satyagraha) to draw the attention of the government towards the deteriorating condition of the building and the collapsed compound of the 184-year-old institution.

Many people joined him in the protest demonstration, voluntarily. Even MLA Vasu sat with the old students and teachers of the school and college for more than an hour, supporting the cause. The Alumni Association had written a letter to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking funds for renovation of the building and repair of the compound wall. It is learnt that another Rs 1 crore would be sanctioned for the construction of new classrooms.

However, construction of the collapsed compound was not included in the sanctioned works. So, Sridhar Raj Urs, along with some concerned citizens, met PWD Minister H C Mahadevappa and brought the issue to his notice. The minister has directed the MUDA Commissioner to take up the repair works of the compound with separate funds.

Urs said, the then Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar founded the Raja Free School in 1833.

“The Maharaja High School and the Maharaja Pre-University College are a continuation of the Raja Free School. I had the privilege of leading the celebration of 150 years of the institution in 1987 as the principal of the college. I was also lucky to lead the celebrations of its 175 years, as president of Maharaja’s High School and PU College Old Boys Association during 2009-11,” he recalls.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 25 September 2017, 18:38 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT