2.5 lakh students still on mats,MCD blames babus

According to an official in the MCD,the project had to be approved at various levels and so was delayed. “The MCD is also going into election year now,so the process has been delayed further. Soon,the schools will be shut for one-and-a-half months for summer vacation,so it may take more time,” he said.

The delay has also been blamed on procedural technicalities,which requires looking at specifications such as desk size and overall cost. The entire process may still take six more months,he added.

Pointing a finger at the bureaucratic hurdles,Chairman of MCD Education Committee Mahender Nagpal said it is a bulk order and so the process is taking longer. “The files are stuck in the bureaucratic process. These days,inquiry is done into each purchase so that RTIs don’t reveal anomalies. Also,we have to test the materials in Shri Ram Lab to ascertain the quality of products,which takes more time,” he said.

The problem of desks had surfaced in February during a meeting of the Standing Committee of the MCD,where councillors pointed out that 2.5 lakh students still sit on mats during classes. Since 2004,there has been a shortage of about 70,000 desks in MCD-run schools as purchase of desks from the previous agency was discontinued after a vigilance inquiry into irregularities. No new deals have been signed since then.

At that time too,the blame was put on bureaucratic delays. Yogender Chandolia,Chairperson of Standing Committee,had said he would ask the Commissioner to provide anticipatory approval and begin the process of acquiring desks in a phased manner by April.