Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The govt has allowed gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads to use central funds available under the 15th Finance Commission for the repair and maintenance of ZP schools and for providing basic amenities to students.
A Govt Resolution (GR) to this effect was issued by the rural development and panchayat raj department on Sept 10 in the backdrop of a meeting held recently to review the condition of ZP schools in the state.
During the meeting, concerns were raised over dilapidated classrooms, non-functional toilets, lack of drinking water and absence of safety measures in a large number of primary and secondary schools run by the ZPs. State rural development minister Jaykumar Gore had directed to issue clear instructions for utilization of Finance Commission grants for school-related works on a priority basis.
According to the GR, the balance funds available under the 15th Finance Commission can be utilized for school and classroom repairs, construction of new toilets and urinals and repair of existing ones, electrical repairs, provision of clean drinking water, cleaning of water storage tanks, installation of CCTV cameras, provision of fire extinguishers and other fire safety equipment and construction or repair of protection walls and entrance gates.
Under the tied grant, which is earmarked for water supply and sanitation, the works are to be taken up in the order of toilets for girls, toilets for boys, toilets for girls with special needs, drinking water facility, repair of toilets, materials required for toilet use and cleaning of water tanks.
Under the untied grant, which is meant for other basic services, the order of priority will be repair of school buildings, repair of classrooms, repair of electrical systems, installation of CCTV cameras, provision of fire safety equipment and repair or construction of compound walls.
“All gram panchayats should make necessary changes in their annual development plans and include school repair works as per the prescribed priorities. In cases where the funds available at the gram panchayat level are insufficient to meet the requirement, the panchayat samiti and zilla parishad concerned should utilize the untied funds available at their level,” Chandrakant Pulkundwar, secretary of rural development department, said.
The 15th Finance Commission fund provides financial grants from the central govt to local bodies like rural and urban local governments for the period spanning 2021–22 to 2025–26.
Kailas Gaikwad, one of the office bearers of Maharashtra State ZP Schools Headmasters’ Federation, said many gram panchayats from the state witnessed prolonged rule of administrators until recent elections.
“Such administrators had spending powers of upto Rs 10,000 only. It compounded the issue of paucity of funds for repairing ZP schools. With the state government now clearing the use of 15th Finance Commission funds, we hope the desired makeover of schools takes place at the earliest for the benefit of students,” he said.
Notably, the GR has been issued in the backdrop of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led by Abhijeet Dipke exposing poor conditions of some of the govt schools, through its ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign.
