Gujarat has topped the list of States in not only achieving the target but also surpassing it in providing potable water facilities in schools, much-ahead by six months for the year 2013-14 in the country.
According to Government data for the fiscal year, the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Government had the target of providing potable water in 100 schools in 2013-14, but it has already covered 192 schools. In contrast, the data available from Water and Sanitation Ministry shows that the overall pace of the other State Governments in ensuring the basic facility has been too slow with just 37 per cent of the targetted 24,730 schools covered so far.
With such a snail pace, the officials feel that the States will not be able to meet the Supreme Court’s repeated orders seeking potable water in every Government school at the earliest. The orders had followed after the Court noted that most of the Government schools do not get adequate drinking water supply. They also lack toilet facilities, furniture as basic as black-boards, teaching aids and books. Fans, playgrounds and computers are still a far cry for almost all the schools in the rural areas.
However, the Supreme Court seems to have fallen on deaf ears if one goes by the performance of the State Governments in the country.
The statistics shows that achievement is below 20 per cent of the target in the states like Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Odisha, and Karnataka while West Bengal has managed to reach to the 40 per cent of the target. (See Box)
After Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh (87 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (85 per cent) and Assam (59 per cent) boast of performing well. There were over nine lakh schools across the States in 2010-11 of which just 7 per cent had drinking water facilities, according to the Government data for 2010-11.