Ullal : The existence of a government primary and high school, which has been imparting education for the last 40 years, is under threat.

A private individual has issued a lawyer notice to the school to vacate the land within two months. The school was constructed on a 44-cent land donated by a local resident Ramesh Kotian, in 1976. The high school was started in 1980. Even after 40 years, the Education Department has failed to get land documents in its name.

Now, the children of donor late Ramesh Kotian have issued a lawyer notice – demanding vacancy of the school premises – which has made students, teachers and parents worry. The residents have submitted a petition to the government to save the school. Ironically, Ramesh Kotian’s son, who got the notice issued, is an alumnus of the school.

In 2013, the then Zilla Panchayat member Sathish Kumpala had held a meeting with the officials of the Education Department and family members of the donor to sort out the issue of the land. The meeting had resolved to make the donor a nominated member and to sculpt the portrait of the donor in the school premises. Even Ramesh Kotian’s children had given their consent for the same. They had even promised to get land in the name of the government.

Chandra, an SDMC member, said, “As the value of the land is high, the family has issued a legal notice to claim the land. The Education Department has promised to support us.”

There are no records with the government to prove that the land belongs to the Department, but the name of donor Ramesh Kotian is mentioned in the RTC.

The Education Department had appealed to the tahsildar in 2013 to earmark the land for the school. A memorandum has also been submitted to Health Minister U T Khader to save the school.