Meghalaya CM Allots Rs 1 Crore To Rebuild 131-Year-Old School Destroyed In Fire

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has announced Rs 1 crore to rebuild a school that was destroyed in a fire incident.

Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma visited the affected old-heritage school and announced a package of Rs 1 crore to rebuild it

Guwahati: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has announced Rs 1 crore to rebuild a 131-year-old heritage school, Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Girls Higher Secondary School in the state capital Shillong, that was destroyed in a fire on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. He also took stock of the damages caused by the fire. The Chief Minister said he was left devasted after seeing the destruction of the British-era school building. He announced that a sum of Rs 1 crore would immediately be released from the Chief Minister’s Special Development Fund to reconstruct the school building. 

Sangma also had interaction with the students and other staff members of the school. He heaved a sigh of relief as none of the students or staff were hurt in the devastating fire. 

The Chief Minister lamented that the destruction of the 131-year-old heritage building was a personal loss to the people as it had a very special bonding with the community.

The school building, built in the late 1800s, was constructed completely with wood.

The wooden structure led the inferno to spread very fast, gutting it completely in no time. However, all the boarders of the school were safe and immediately shifted to the community hall of the Mission Compound locality.

A century ago, the Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Girls Higher Secondary School, was the only institute for girls in the entire northeastern region. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary in the year 2017.

The school was originally a branch of an erstwhile school, established by the Welsh missionaries at Nongsawlia village in Sohra, then Cherrapunjee.

It was however converted into a full-fledged school in 1864.

The school soon went on to become an exclusive institution for girls in 1892, when a missionary of the Welsh Presbyterian Mission Society, took over the administration of the heritage institute of the region.