Baripada: Several inmates of the Basipitha Ashram School in Khunta block of Odisha's Mayurbhanj district reportedly walked nearly 25 kilometres at night to reach Baripada in order to meet the Collector as they were allegedly served poor-quality food and abused by teachers at the educational institution.

The students claimed that they were being served substandard food. They also alleged that the teachers frequently used abusive language against them without any reason.

Being angry over their grievances allegedly being ignored, the students left the hostel premises around midnight by scaling the boundary wall and headed towards Baripada, the district headquarters.

As they reached the town, the concerned officials of the district administration held a discussion with the students regarding their grievances. The authorities then arranged a bus to transport them back to their hostel.

Later, the District Collector visited the school and interacted with the students to resolve their issues.

The District Welfare Officer (DWO) and Block Development Officer (BDO) of Khunta were at the spot to probe into the matter.