Bhubaneswar: Several schools in Cuttack and a few other districts have been left without electricity over unpaid bills, disrupting normal functioning. School and mass education minister Nityananda Gond on Saturday said power supply would be restored at the earliest and education officials would clear pending dues.TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) disconnected power supply to several schools in Cuttack and Puri on Friday over pending dues, which left the institutions without water supply on Saturday. The outage disrupted cooking of mid-day meals in several schools, besides affecting their normal functioning.A teacher of Sitadevi Joglekar UP School in Chauliaganj said TPCODL informed the school that its electricity dues had remained unpaid, prompting the disconnection. “It has affected drinking water supply and there is no water for cooking mid-day meals today. Besides, it is difficult for students to sit in the classrooms in the absence of power supply,” he said.Under govt provisions, the school and mass education department must remit a specified amount towards schools’ electricity consumption to TPCODL every March. However, the dues have remained unpaid for several months this year, the teacher said.In Puri too, power supply to several schools remained disconnected on Saturday.Gond said the department had directed all district education officers (DEOs) to clear pending electricity bills at the earliest.“The DEOs have funds and have been asked to use those to clear the TPCODL dues. Some DEOs have already paid the outstanding bills today, while the remaining would clear those at the earliest,” the minister said.Gond acknowledged that delays by education officials in clearing the power bills had resulted in disconnections at schools. He said the department had also asked the discom not to disconnect power to schools without informing it first.“We have asked the discom not to disconnect power to schools over any issue without informing the department, as it puts children in trouble. This problem will not recur in future. I have spoken to the officials concerned,” he said.