The Bal Bhavan at Campal is now a fortified area with armed police guarding the premises to keep the EVMs of the 19 North Goa constituencies safe till the counting day, March 11. The elections were held on Feb.4, after which the Electronic Voting Machines and Vote-Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) were sealed and transferred to Bal Bhavan and are being guarded round the clock. How is this move affecting the Bal Bhavan’s activities?
If one thought that academic sessions at the now-fortified Bal Bhavan has come to a standstill with entry to the complex restricted to only poll-related officials, then you are mistaken. The management has shifted all its main activities and functioning to the Old Goa Medical College premise till March 15.
“We are holding classes and other academic and extra curriculum activities at the Old GMC complex from February 1 to March 15,” Programme Head Shashikant Punaji told Herald.
EVMs and VVPATs from across 19 constituencies in the north Goa have been stored under strict security with hundreds of para military force, armed police from the neighbouring states and Goa police guarding the venue. The premise is banned for public during this interim period even as only the specially authorised government officials are allowed to enter.
Punaji confirmed that neither classes nor extra curriculum activities of the pre-primary and primary students are affected. In fact, teachers are on the verge of concluding the academic year portion and preparing their students for final exams scheduled to be held post March 15. “The exams will be answered at our original campus,” he said adding that the authorities are also bracing up to holding summer camps for hundreds of children.
A senior official said that the management was informed well in advance about occupying the premise for a particular period in order to prepare itself to temporarily shift at an alternate location.
Originally set up in 1986 to thereafter shift to its independent premise at Campal in 1996, Bal Bhavan also offers a bouquet of creative art, performing art, creative writing and innovative science among other courses.
The complex is currently under three-tier security and several cameras installed at multiple points checking every movement in and around the main complex and its annex building.
