GO on toilets’ maintenance on paper only
Rs 160 crore allotted for maintaining toilets in government schools
By : pradeep kumar
Update: 2015-08-16 05:53 GMT
Chennai: Despite a Government Order, Chennai corporation is not maintaining toilets in government and aided schools. The GO No. 77, of the school education department of April 13 this year, takes after a Rule 110 announcement made by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in the Assembly.
Jayalalithaa had set aside Rs 160.77 crore in the announcement just for the purpose of maintaining toilets in schools operating within the limits of Rural Development and panchayat raj as well as the municipal administration and water supply departments.
However, when DC contacted a few of the 27 government schools located within the core city limits, many of them said the day-to-day maintenance is just about managed from the Parent-Teacher Association funds.
“We hire five sweepers and one scavenger to clean the toilets thrice a day. The expense comes to around rS 10,500 a month and we pay them with money from the PTA funds,” said the principal of a prominent government school in the city.
Asked about what constitutes PTA fund, a principal from another school said, “We collect subscription fees of around Rs 50 per student. Some of the parents and teachers donate on their own and this is what helps us pay for the maintenance.”
While one school said that they had a government-appointed sweeper to take care of the maintenance of toilets, most said they did not receive assistance from Chennai corporation.
“We were not aware of such a G.O. We could have saved some money had we known about it,” said a principal, before asking for the GO’s details from this correspondent.
When contacted, corporation officials said all schools run by the civic body have toilets that are maintained well by staff who were on their payrolls. When asked about the maintenance for government schools, an official said, “If those schools want the corporation to maintain their facilities, then they should approach us. Otherwise, we think that they are self-sufficient.”
For local bodies with acute staff shortage, like the Pallavapuram municipality, implementing the GO means outsourcing maintenance. The municipality is to float tenders to hand over maintenance of nine government schools in its limits.