Lucknow, Oct 2 : As the nation is celebrating Gandhi Jayanti, to mark the 139th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a secondary school set up by him in Lucknow is in shambles due to neglect by authorities.

Mahatma Gandhi had established the secondary school in Chinhat Nagar in 1920 as there was no school for the education of children for miles and miles.

As the years passed by government''s priority towards its maintenance decreased considerably. The government regularly releases grants for the maintenance of the school, but it does not go towards the upkeep of the school. The result is that it is in ruins.

There are six teachers and a principal on the pay-roll but hardly anyone takes the trouble anyone to teach.

The principal feigns his helplessness over the prevailing conditions by contending nothing much could be done to conduct classes since they have no place to sit.

While half of the building has almost crumbled down, a couple of rooms, which still have some sort of structural support, have been locked up.

The ex-students of this school say that no one is ready to take admission here as the building is in ruins and can fall anytime and basic amenities are lacking.

Ramanath Mishra, a freedom fighter and a Gandhian said that it was very unfortunate that the sacrifices of a man, whom we consider the father of the nation, are going waste.

"The government should take care of the institutions which have been established by the great men even if there is a change in their policies. If the government cannot do anything else they should atleast release the aid which it releases for other schools so that this school survives," said Ramanath Mishra. (ANI)