Mekh Bahadur Khatri, principal of Jyoti Mandal Secondary School in Banskhark, Jaljala Rural Municipality-1, had taken out a loan from the cooperative 10 years ago by pledging the title deed of his private land for the construction of the school building.
What you should know
A principal's mortgaged property for the construction of a school building has been returned by a donor after paying off the loan.
Mekh Bahadur Khatri, the principal of Jyoti Mandal Secondary School in Jaljala Rural Municipality-1, Banskhark, had taken a loan from the cooperative 10 years ago by pledging the title deed of his private land for the construction of the school building.
The school was unable to repay the loan for a long time due to financial constraints, so Khatri's title deed was stuck with the cooperative. After learning that the principal's private land was in the cooperative due to non-payment of the loan, social worker Kamal Bahadur Purja reached the cooperative last Friday and paid the loan himself. He returned the title deed by paying Rs 928,466 to the cooperative.
Principal Khatri is happy that the loan to the school has been fully repaid and the title deed of his own land has been returned. The work done by the cooperative is being appreciated at the local level. ‘The late Lal Bahadur Pun worked as a teacher and president of this school,’ said Principal Khatri, ‘His granddaughter-in-law has paid off the school’s loan in memory of his grandfather. Lal Bahadur’s father has also contributed a lot to the school.’
Principal Khatri said that the school received support from Lal Bahadur’s granddaughter-in-law Kamal Bahadur, who is also a former head of the school, and granddaughters Parvati, Radha, Sita, Shanti and great-granddaughter Pawan. The school also honored the donors. He said that although many donors support the school, this is the first time that a large amount of support has been received. The school has already paid about 1.2 million rupees in interest to the cooperative for 10 years.
He said that when the funds were insufficient to purchase new land for the school and construct a concrete building on it, the cooperative had to take out a loan by keeping the Lal Pursha. ‘The old school was located in an unsuitable location, with steep slopes and a high risk of landslides,’ he said. ‘We built a concrete building on the land purchased by collecting funds from the community. We had hired secondary school teachers who were paid from private sources. We had to run the school on loans to cover all expenses.’
There are currently 94 students studying in the school, which offers classes from grades 1 to 10. Principal Khatri said that the number of students is gradually increasing as the school is now more convenient for students. He said that it would be better if a fence and playground were built for the school immediately.
