The government-aided secondary Sanskrit schools in the state are all set to witness a major makeover. This follows the initiative of the state government which has introduced amended financial aid rules under ‘Project Alankar’.

These revised regulations aim to rejuvenate institutions that have been serving the community for over 50 years. The Secondary Education department modified the aid conditions, reducing the school managements’ financial commitment to just five per cent of the renovation expenses. Simultaneously, a budget of ` 100 crore for renovation projects has been allocated by the state government.

 Prior to this the state government required managements of schools to cover 50 per cent of the renovation costs for their ageing buildings, with the government subsidising the remaining amount. However, this condition led to reluctance among school management committees, resulting in ` 28 crore going unclaimed in the last fiscal year.

Understanding the constraints of these schools, the department modified the conditions under which the financial aid is provided. These revised rules have been welcomed by managements of schools. The Directorate of Education here has already received proposals totalling ` 22 crore from various institutions across the state, eager to take advantage of the scheme to enhance and develop their school buildings. The proposals, which amount to ` 22 crore, originate from government-aided Sanskrit schools in districts such as Basti, Muzaffarnagar, Sonbhadra, Ambedkarnagar, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Balrampur, and Maharajganj.

Officials of the directorate say that these proposals are under review for approval and that additional submissions from various districts are forthcoming.

Out of the 958 government-aided Sanskrit schools offering education from classes VI to XII in the state, officials have been instructed to prioritise those institutions which have enrolment of more than 100 students.

Administrator of Shri Saudamini Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya here and former head of the department of Chemistry at Allahabad University, Prof MC Chattopadhyay said, “Earlier, we were not able to afford a 50 per cent matching grant. Now, we have submitted a proposal for our school’s renovation under the new guidelines.”

Railway overbridge work to restart soon: In what can be seen as a huge relief for the residents of Daraganj and adjoining areas, the work for the completion of railway overbridge (ROB) from Kamla Nehru Hospital to Buxi Bund, will soon restart.

The left over work of the Buxi Bund ROB will soon be taken up by the agency entrusted with the work of its construction of which over 90 per cent of the work is complete.

The construction was stuck for a long time due to lack of budget which had escalated in due course of time. Now the work will start again after the government sanctioned the budget of Rs 20 crore.

 This ROB was sanctioned to connect Daraganj locality to other parts of the city. Crossing over two railway lines, connecting Prayag to Prayagraj Junction and Prayag Ghat station running under this ROB.

In November 2020 Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had performed the foundation laying ceremony. At that time a target was set to complete the ROB by November 2021.

Because of the change in the alignment of ROB, the cost of around Rs 52 crore increased to around Rs 74 crore. After the issuance of the government order, the remaining increased amount has been sanctioned and will be released soon. “The government order for this ROB was issued on Friday. The incomplete work will be started in a couple of days and the ROB will be completed by the end of this year,” said one of the senior official of the construction agency .