Delhi govt launches audit to revamp dilapidated schools across city

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has launched an audit to identify schools in dilapidated condition and improve their state, a source in the Education department has said. The audit started earlier this month with a school in Narela, which was crumbling with broken ceilings, water seepage, broken desks, and unhygienic washrooms, the source said.

"We have asked the officials, district-wise, to start taking out data of such schools which are deteriorating and lack basic infrastructure facilities," the source said. On March 24, during the Assembly session, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood informed the Assembly that an action report would be prepared on the deteriorating condition of schools in the national capital.

Five-time MLA from Gandhi Nagar, Arvinder Singh Lovely, highlighted the poor condition of a school on Brahmapuri Main Road and said several schools in the Trans-Yamuna region were in a similar state, as he urged the minister to provide details of such schools. BJP MLA Kulwant Rana pointed out a school in shambles in Saheb Haderi.

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1,075 govt schools in Delhi

Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Delhi High Court in September revealed that classes in at least three schools were being conducted under tin sheds. The schools mentioned in the PIL were Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Zeenat Mahal, Kamla Market, Government Girls Secondary School, Ashok Nagar, and Government Boys Secondary School, Ashok Nagar, with more than 1,000 collectively enrolled in them.

The court issued a strong criticism of the government at the revelation and called for a state-of-the-art infrastructure. A survey by the Delhi Directorate of Education in the same month highlighted issues of water shortage and power supply in 799 schools.

According to the report, out of 703 schools connected to the Delhi Jal Board and Municipal Engineering Services, 59 reported intermittent water supply, while 48 schools reported erratic or no supply at all. There are around 1,075 government schools in Delhi with about 8,24,225 students enrolled.