Chandigarh: An affidavit submitted by the Haryana government in the High Court exposes the lapses on the part of the education department. The affidavit mentions the lack of basic facilities in the schools of the state. Meanwhile, sources say administrative negligence led to Rs 10,675.99 crore allocated to the state education department having been returned without being used.
Following this, the Opposition parties are now targeting the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government. Opposition leader Bhupendra Singh Hooda said that the lack of basic facilities in schools shows the condition of the education department in Haryana. He said that there are no basic facilities in the schools. "There are no clean toilets, no classrooms, and no supply of clean water. The ruling party is not taking any interest in improving the condition of schools in the state. It is very concerning," Hooda said.
Senior Vice President of Aam Aadmi Party, Anurag Dhanda, said that Education Minister used to say that schools in Haryana are in better condition than those in Delhi. "When we asked him to take us to the schools, he just vanished", he said. Dhanda said, "All the schools in the state are lacking basic facilities. Now we know why the Education Minister did not want us to visit the schools. More than 500 schools do not have separate toilets for female students, several schools do not have electricity supply, and students have to sit on the floor as there are no benches."
He further said "The Khattar-led government is focused only on doing scams and is least interested in improving the situation of the schools in the state."
When Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gurjar was questioned regarding the affidavit given by the Education Department in the High Court regarding the condition of schools, he said that the affidavit was given in the court in May and since then, several steps have been taken to improve the condition of schools.
Gurjar said, "Since May, we have worked very hard to bring changes in the schools. We have been successful in providing clean water to the schools, and separate toilets for boys and girls have been built. As far as constructing new classrooms is concerned, it will take some time. We have discussed this with the finance department and the officials said that it may take three to five years to construct new buildings."
According to the affidavit of the Education Department, there is no provision of toilets for boys in over 1047 schools, while there are no toilets for girls in 538 schools in the state. At least 131 government schools do not have clean drinking water facilities. Around 236 schools do not have a proper electricity supply. In the affidavit, the government has also admitted that at least 8240 new classrooms are required to be built.
Advocate Pradeep Kumar said that the students filed a plea in 2016 saying that their schools lack even the basic facilities. He said, "In 2009, the provision of providing free and compulsory education was added to Article 21A of our Constitution. After this, the Right to Education Bill was passed in the Parliament. But even after so many years, the students are still fighting for their rights."
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