A major step has been taken regarding the dilapidated buildings and huge budget shortage of government schools in the state. Education Department officials have been instructed to prepare a new Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the repair, reconstruction and basic facilities of school buildings. On this issue, the Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court made a strong comment on the budget of the state government, saying that the allocation for school buildings is like ‘cumin in the camel’s mouth’, which is extremely inadequate compared to the ground needs.
The High Court said that Rs 20 thousand crores are needed to improve the condition of government schools. In the Rajasthan government budget presented on February 11, only Rs 550 crore has been approved for the repair of dilapidated schools. Apart from this, Rs 450 crore has been sanctioned for new buildings of schools. Only five percent of the funds have been received to repair dilapidated school buildings. In such a situation, the government should tell how and from where the remaining money will be arranged.
Is the government demanding help for schools?
Making a scathing comment, the court said that on one hand, offerings worth Rs 600 crore come annually to the Saawariya Seth temple of Rajasthan. But no one is helping the education department. The lack of help from industrialists and institutions regarding the condition of schools clearly means that people do not trust you, the education department. This trust has to be established. Detailed project report will have to be presented in the next hearing to be held on March 5.
During the hearing, the Division Bench of Justice Mahendra Kumar Goyal and Justice Ashok Kumar Jain said in the open court that the dilapidated buildings of government schools are a big threat to the life and health of children. The government does not have the budget to repair them. If the government is not able to arrange the budget then it should put up a board saying that we cannot provide security to children.
Tenders issued in other sectors except health sector
Making a scathing comment, the court also said that in the coming dates, it can also consider that the tenders issued for other sectors except the health sector should be stopped. The Division Bench of the High Court has said during the hearing that it was issued under other heads including the Education Department. Budget Also wants to consider getting monitoring done.
The High Court has also asked the lawyers to give suggestions in this regard and not the court has just said that due to these reasons the number of children from government schools is continuously decreasing. The division bench of the High Court will hear this case again on March 5. According to Vagish Kumar Singh, advocate of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, who is associated with this case, after the death of 6 children due to the collapse of a school building in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan on July 26, the High Court had started the hearing by filing a PIL on suo moto. Since then the High Court is continuously monitoring the condition of schools.
Playing with children’s safety will not be tolerated at all
During the hearing in the High Court itself, the court was told by the Education Department that 84 thousand classrooms of about 64 thousand government schools are in a dilapidated condition and children cannot be accommodated there. The court had given instructions to vacate these class rooms and make alternative arrangements for the education of the children. The court says that playing with the safety of children cannot be tolerated at all.
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