06 January,2011 07:11 AM IST | | Alifiya Khan
Pune Municipal Corporation's school education board accused of appointing teachers without state government approval, paying excess salaries and bonuses, and also mismanagement of funds
School education has been in the news for the most part of last year, though for all the wrong reasons. From protests over fee hikes by parents and accusations of corruption in the civic body's education board to committees that are formed on paper and never see the light of day, the problems are endless.
Starting from today, MiD DAY will discuss each of these problems bit by bit and bring you the real picture.
In the first part of our education series on problems in school education in the city, we highlight the controversy that the Pune Municipal Corporation's education board is mired in and how its budget increases each year despite unutilised funds.
The budget passed by the education board barely a week ago is already under inspection, with corporators creating a furore over it. The opposition parties namely the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, alleged that the ruling NCP-Congress combine hurriedly passed this budget even when there was no quorum of members.
This was allegedly done to hide the corruption in the budget allocations. While political accusations are flying fast, MiD DAY tells you the real reasons why the education budget is surrounded in so much controversy.
Controversy No 1
Civic chief smells a rat
Last Thursday, the ruling alliance passed a budget of Rs 207 crore for the school education board in the coming year. Originally, this budget was proposed to be Rs 250 crore. It was cut down by Rs 60 crore by Civic Commissioner Mahesh Zagade after he found many unnecessary and unsanctioned expenses in the budget such as paying of salaries and bonuses to teachers not appointed by the state government, excesses in the budget for school cleaning, virtual classrooms, among others.
"Administration suggested a cut to budget based on pending inquiries," said Additional Commissioner Macchindra Devnikar, when asked about the budget cuts.
Controversy No 2
Pending graft inquiries
So far, the school education board has faced a lot of flak for various purchases that it has done. The former chief of the school board was even sacked for purchasing uniforms and shoes at inflated rates. Besides, the school board was pulled up for distributing sweaters in summer and also for beautifying classrooms during the election period violating the code of conduct. The civic chief has ordered inquiries over financial scams in the school board.
Controversy No 3
Questionable provisions in the budget
While the manner in which the budget was passed is questionable, more interesting are the allocation of funds in the budget. "We understand that they require funds for purchase of uniform but do they have to purchase benches every year? The number of schools hasn't increased; in fact in some places there are barely 50 students in a three-storied building," said BJP corporator Mukta Tilak.
While budgets for salaries and purchases have been hiked, the school board found it essential to cut down on scholarships for deserving students from Rs 15 to Rs 10 lakh and even cut down on the school cleaning budget by more than Rs 2 crore even though the state of cleanliness in civic schools is poor.
Controversy No 4
Unutilised funds, incompetent management
On the one hand, while the school board has demanded a hike of Rs 82 crore as compared to previous year's budget, the fact remains that it hasn't utilised the Rs 38 crore from last year's budget meant for students.
The money that was meant for upgrading education material is lying unutilised, while the school board is contemplating handing over a few of its schools to private players.
"The reason ufffd they want better management of schools. This clearly implies that they are not competent enough and if that is so, why are they hiking the budget year after year? Dropout rate is high, school buildings are crumbling and they want more money," said Shyam Deshpande, Shiv Sena corporator.
Controversy No 5
Political appointment of teachers
The civic administration pointed out that nearly 2,000 posts of teachers of the school board have not been approved by the state government but were appointed to appease politicians. In effect the budget for salaries is increasing each year making salaries a whopping Rs 175-crore component. "Forget scams, the major issue in the budget is illegal appointments and payment of crores of rupees to such people. This budget is a farce," said RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar.
