137 years old V.O.Chidambaranar (VOC) Government School at Mission Street, Puducherry was handed over back to the School Education Department today, jointly by Lt.Governor Dr.Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister N.Rangasamy in a function organized at the school premises.<br />'' <br />''The V.O.C. school, built in 1885, is one of the few European-style buildings in the Tamil Precinct. The school was renovated at the cost of 3 crore rupees by Puducherry Smart City Development Ltd restoring the basic structure and appearance.<br />'' <br />''In her speech, Lt.Governor said that in the Budget of Puducherry Union Territory, 12% was allocated for Education which is the highest among all the states and union territories. The school named after the famous freedom fighter of Tamil Nadu, V.O. Chidambaranar is still unfolding the history and at the same time exists as a historical fact, she added.<br />'' <br />''Chief Minister N. Rangasamy in his speech said that his government has taken steps to preserve nearly 100 old and traditional buildings including private houses. He stressed the need for consistent maintenance of Government buildings including schools and for this, government would allocate additional funds.<br />'' <br />''In this function itself, a mobile app on flood was launched for public use and HLG-HCM Dashboard was also inaugurated. This Dashboard would display the latest information about 70 government schemes through which the top brass could monitor the progress easily. A memorandum of understanding was signed between Government and Indian Bank for central median beautification in roads under Corporate Social Responsibility.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Ministers Namasivayam and Lakshminarayanan, Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Directors of line Departments and others participated in the function.</span><br />