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A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court, seeking directions for a judicial inquiry into the alleged financial irregularities in the expenditures made by the Delhi Government in Delhi schools, under its various education policies.
The plea filed by Swatantra Jan Awaaz Foundation, an NGO represented by Verum Legal, contends that there has been a significant failure in meeting the commitments made, as evidenced by high dropout rates, gender disparities in sanitation facilities, unequal resource distribution between marginalized and elite areas, and the manipulation of performance statistics to conceal underlying systemic problems. This failure has contributed to higher rates of menstrual absenteeism. Of the 1,082 schools, only 273 are equipped with sanitary pad distribution machines, the plea said. The plea further alleges significant discrepancies in the budget allocation for teachers each year, despite little to no increase in the number of teachers. It points out that while 3,039 additional classrooms were approved by the Education Department before 2017-18, 426 of these remain pending. Additionally, the Department had planned to construct 347 classrooms, but none of these have been completed. The plea also highlights several other areas of infrastructural delays, the plea stated. The plea further alleged that the Delhi Education system has multiple irregularities leading to failed educational mechanisms in Delhi and no effective steps have been taken to resolve the issues. The research clearly shows that 36,616 students are studying in schools where there is no teacher as per the data provided by EDUDEL which is managed by the Department of Education but the government is making expenditures per student which shows financial irregularities, plea read. (ANI)
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