Move by Education department to shift its offices kicks up a row

Efforts by the Department of Education to shift its offices from Mananchira to Nadakkavu have kicked up a row that points to a possible tug of war between the departments of Tourism and Education.

Efforts by the Department of Education to shift its offices from Mananchira to Nadakkavu have kicked up a row that points to a possible tug of war between the departments of Tourism and Education.

The Education department is planning to shift the District Education Office located on Pavamani Road at Mananchira to the Government Women’s TTI premises at Nadakkavu as the building needs to be demolished for the widening of Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu Road. However, there have been allegations that the Tourism department is planning to carry out a mega project in the said land and hence the relocation of the office. It is learnt that the office of the Deputy Director of Education (DDE) is also to be shifted.

The offices of the DDE and DEO are located in 2.28 acres which was donated to the government by Kallingal Kunjikkoru Mooppan in 1968 on condition that it could be used only by Health and Education departments. Recently, a part of the DEO office premises was occupied by the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) and the Department of Tourism. A tourism project that encompasses an auditorium and other facilities in the said plot was mooted a decade ago but was never carried forward.

However, certain organisations associated with the Education department have alleged that the DTPC was reviving the project and hence the Education department offices were being shifted.

“The Tourism department is trying to take over the plot in the heart of the city. Such takeovers have become commonplace these days,” said P.K. Aravindan, State general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association.

However, sources in the Tourism department brushed aside the charges. “The department has no such plans at present. If the DTPC has any such plans, we have not been intimated about it. The DTPC cannot execute such a project on its own without the help of the department,” said the sources.