Indian Express: Chandigarh:
Wednesday, July 31, 2013.
Claiming that
the Chief Minister’s pet project has “flopped, derailed and failed” to impart
quality education to poor students in rural areas, the Congress today demanded
a special audit by Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) and a white paper on the
functioning of all Adarsh schools in Punjab.
Addressing a
Press conference the Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Khaira alleged
malfunctioning and gross financial embezzlement in over two dozen Adarsh
schools of Punjab. Quoting from information recieved under the RTI Act, he
said, “All private managements, except five Adarsh schools managed by the
Bharti group, are embezzling, frauding and endangering the future of poor
school children,” he said.
Displaying
the audit report of an Adarsh school in Hardasa village of Ferozpur, managed by
Baba Ishar Singh Educational Society under the PPP mode, he said the society
appointed a managing director and a coordinator at salaries of Rs 50,000 and Rs
10,000 per month respectively but they were given no tasks. “The government
paid Rs 8,35,000 as salary to 59 teachers through bank accounts but a sum of Rs
5,000 in cash was collected back from each teacher per month in lieu of faculty
development programme and laptop charges. As per the audit report, five clerks
are being paid Rs 10,000 per month even though there is no requirement for so
many clerks in view of the work load. While Rs 30,000 per month is shown as
salary for accounting staff, no accounts are maintained at the school premises.
A PRO and and a doctor were being paid monthly wages without any assigned work.
No doctor visited the school,” he added.
Although the
primary objective of Adarsh schools is to provide free quality education,
students were being forced to pay Rs 3,100 as uniform and books charges and Rs
100 to 300 as transportation charges, despite the fact that the schools receive
Rs 1,680 per student per month from the government for this purpose. A sum of
Rs 3,51,897 is shown as diesel expenses for June when the school is closed for
summer vacations, Khaira said.
Khaira
alleged that similar shocking disclosures have been made in an inquiry report
by a principal in Manawan Adarsh school in Moga district also.
The Punjab
and Haryana High Court had on July 9 directed the DGSE to inquire into the
allegations and sought a detailed report within two months.
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