In spite of a notification from the Directorate of Education (DoE) making the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan compulsory for all Government schools, on Thursday several schools in South Delhi were seen locked. While there were a few schools where the gates were open, once inside, there was no one to be seen and the campus lay unclean. Some bystanders presumed that the schools could have conducted the campaign in the early hours of the day, but a few said that they hadn’t seen kids the entire morning.
While Thursday was a holiday for private schools, Government schools had declared it a working day where students from Classes II to XII had to be present to participate in the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan. In fact on Wednesday, schools were seen preparing for the campaign. With the DoE directive coming in on Wednesday, schools had arranged for mops, brooms, gloves and a lot of other equipment to help in the campaign. Thus, it was surprising that schools were closed at 9.30 am in the morning.
A shopkeeper near a Government boys’ school in lajpat Nagar, who had set up his shop by 10 am, said, “These schools start by 7 am. It is possible that the students came, conducted the drive and left in an hour. Their campuses are quite small.” At another school in South Delhi, a few bystanders said that the school opens at 6 am which means that there was a possibility that a drive was conducted.
Nonetheless, there were a few schools areas near Defence Colony, Greater Kailash and Kidwai Nagar which were locked at 9.30 am with the entire area around the school deserted.