Polls leave peeling paint, broken items and towering garbage at schools used as booths

Schools in Chennai and Coimbatore report damage post-elections, prompting calls for better maintenance and accountability from authorities.

In the aftermath of the elections that were held recently, many schools in the State have reported damage to the walls, benches and garbage left uncleared.

This is a recurrent event, according to teachers. “During elections, the schools become a kalyana veedu (marriage hall). It is damage and chaos. We have to bring in our own people to clean up,” said a government school teacher from Vyasarpadi. Schools have reported that pasting the posters has caused the paint on the walls and doors to peel. Some schools have also reported that polling day garbage is strewn while chairs are thrown out in the ground. Some have also reported that the lights and fans were not switched off.

As schools resumed on Monday again with exams for Class VI - IX, teachers rushed to get everything ready before the students assembled. “This is not new to us,” said another teacher from M.G.R Nagar.

“It was through our repeated efforts that we were able to build a new building in the school for the students where stone benches were installed for easy interaction in a classroom. It was inaugurated only in January, but is now broken, after polling day. Garbage is strewn everywhere,” said U. Gayathri, head of the School Management Committee, Chennai Primary School. After a viral video regarding the school, the Greater Chennai Corporation has been working on the restoring the school to working condition.

Stating that the posters issue was raised repeatedly, Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers’ Association general secretary J. Robert said, “They could tie a rope and hang the posters on it to prevent the peeling of paint. It costs us about Rs. 50,000 to 1 lakh to get them painted again. By the time that is arranged, it is time for another election.”

The Election Commission of India had taken cognisance of this issue in a circular in 2010 and had directed its district officers to look for other buildings/structures before assigning a school as polling booth or as strong rooms to hold the ballot boxes until counting. It had also appealed to the officers on poll duty to be mindful of the societal value of schools.

The School Education department does not maintain a record of any damage that is incurred during poll activities nor is there a system for the teachers to raise complaints regarding this. “The clean up work is taken care of by the Corporation,” said a senior official from the department.