Mumbra's platform school still waiting to begin; students protest

Six months after Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) Deputy Municipal Commissioner promised to begin the platform school at Mumbra station, the project is still to see the light of day. The MNS Students Association on Wednesday held a protest march near the Mumbra railway station against this delay.

Earlier scheduled to start operations in December 2017, the school, to be conducted in a large container, lies unattended. In June this year, a painted container was placed outside the station but it is now surrounded by garbage piles. This concept of platform school was initiated after the success of signal school at Teen Haath Naka in Thane for street children to study.

The container school is now surrounded by filth and debris

Arun Kshirsagar of MNS Students Association, who led the protest up to the TMC Education Department, said, "It is adjacent to a public toilet. Authorities have to first ensure cleanliness. The Rs 8 lakh spent by TMC have only so far been used in painting the container while the teachers and other equipment are still not in place."

"We will start the school soon. Some procedures are still ongoing," said Manish Joshi, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, TMC. Proposed to be run on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) module, the TMC will hand over its operations to a local NGO.

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