Call it a coincidence, negligence or otherwise but the number of dilapidated primary school buildings is more in the home districts of Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani than in the other districts of the State.
In the rainy season the threat to the lives of students studying in these schools increases as incidents of collapse of buildings occur more during this time.
Departmental data reveals that the number of damaged primary school buildings in Almora, the home district of the Chief Minister, is 136 while in the Education Minister's Tehri district the figure for such buildings is 114. These two districts take the first and second positions in the list of damaged school buildings.
The total number of damaged primary school buildings in the State is 768 while 69 upper primary schools in the State are running in dilapidated buildings. Incidentally, the number of primary schools running in the damaged buildings has increased this year compared to last year.
The data further reveals that most of the primary schools whose buildings are in a shambles are located in mountainous areas of the State where natural agencies pose much bigger threat to the buildings than in the plains.
The maintenance and repair of school buildings are done under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). It is worth mentioning here that the SSA is funded by the Central Government and the State Government in the ratio of 65:35. When contacted, the Additional Project Director (APZ), SSA, Mukul Kumar Sati said that a budget of Rs 35.42 cr has been sanctioned this year to construct new school buildings in 281 primary and upper primary schools. He added that apart from these schools major repairs would be taken up in 197 schools of the State. Sati said that the SSA would also take up the activity of construction of boundary walls in 475 schools of the State this year.
The Primary Education Director, Seema Jaunsari, told 'The Pioneer' that the department has issued strict orders that students should not sit in the damaged or leaking rooms. The school heads have been asked to coordinate with the village pradhans to shift the students to safer buildings during the monsoon period, she added.