Establishment of Model School in every EBB in J&K
Refund un-spent balance to MHRD, fix responsibility
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 26: In a big question mark on the performance of those who remained at the helm of affairs in the School Education Department of Jammu and Kashmir, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has detected non-utilization of Rs 44.13 crore meant for establishment of Model School in every Educationally Backward Block for 10 years thereby depriving quality education to the intended beneficiaries.
Moreover, the supreme audit institution of the country has recommended that unspent amount along with interest accrued thereon may be refunded to the Ministry of Human Resources Development and responsibility fixed for non-establishment of Model Schools in J&K.
According to the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development launched a scheme in November 2008 with the objective of having at least one good quality secondary school (Model School) in every Educationally Backward Block (EBB).
As the Jammu and Kashmir was a special category State, the funding pattern through grant-in-aid for implementation of the scheme was 90:10 for Government of India and Government of Jammu and Kashmir respectively.
Accordingly, the J&K Government submitted proposals in November 2009 to the Grant-in-aid Committee (GIAC) of DSEL for setting up of 24 (17 new schools and conversion of seven existing schools) for EBBs. During its third meeting held in November 2009, the GIAC observed that the projected unit cost of Rs 6.18 crore was higher than the scheme norm of Rs 3.02 crore per Model School as such the State Government was required to either revise the estimate or to meet the extra financial burden.
In the same meeting, the representative from J&K informed the GIAC that the estimates will be revised so as to bring it within the scheme norms. Accordingly, the GIAC recommended 19 new model schools in November 2009 to be set up in J&K, the report said.
Thereafter, revision of cost was stated to be submitted to Project Approval Board (PAB) in 2010-11 and subsequently, amendments were made to existing provisions by Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), which allowed in April 2014 the State of Jammu and Kashmir an opportunity to revise the cost based on State Schedule of Rates (SSoR) in respect of the sanctioned 19 model schools for the EBBs as a one-time exception.
“A proposal based on the SSoR 2012 was submitted in August 2014 by the J&K Government to the DSEL as per the information provided by the State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, J&K Noor Society”, the report said, adding “no relevant details of the revised proposals were provided on the grounds that Directorate of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) remained submerged in devastating floods in the Kashmir valley in the month of September 2014 for a period of more than 25 days and most of the records in hard copy were destroyed”.
Subsequently, Government of India in February 2015 delinked the scheme from its support.
As per the report, the grant-in-aid of Rs 25.82 crore (90 per cent) of first instalment was released in February 2010 and State Government released Rs 2.87 crore in June 2010 to State Project Director (SPD) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The entire amount of Rs 29.23 crore was transferred in December 2010 and kept at the disposal of State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, J&K Noor Society. Further, the State Government released an additional State share of Rs 2.87 crore in January 2011.
Scrutiny of records in January 2019 of State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha revealed that the grants-in-aid of Rs 25.82 crore and State share of Rs 5.74 crore were parked in the saving bank account of J&K Noor Society. However, even after lapse of 10 years, the Government had not taken adequate initiative till July 2019 for implementation of the scheme.
“Thus, failure of the department to take timely action despite relaxation of norms by MHRD for utilisation of amounts received for establishment of Model Schools not only resulted in non-utilisation of Rs 44.13 crore over a period of 10 years but also deprived the intended beneficiaries from quality education”, the CAG said, adding “even the State Share of Rs 5.74 crore plus interest included in the Rs 44.13 crore was blocked”.
On being asked by the CAG in January 2019, the Chief Accounts Officer, Samagra Shiksha stated (in July 2019/ June 2020) that the amount initially approved for establishment of Model School was inadequate to take the construction work, however, the case regarding revision of cost submitted in 2010-11 to Project Approval Board (PAB) was undecided till June 2020.
“The reply is not tenable as the department has not availed the benefit to either revise the unit cost estimate of each school or to meet the financial burden despite relaxation of norms by MHRD”, the CAG said, adding “after delinking of the scheme from the Government of India support in 2015, the department was to arrange the additional funds from its own resources for which no steps were taken and Rs 44.13 crore continued to be held in the bank account”.
Though the matter was referred to the department/ Government in May 2020 yet their replies were awaited till September 2020, the CAG said, adding “the J&K Government may ensure that unspent amount along with interest accrued thereon may be refunded in accordance with the conditions laid down in the sanction order of the Ministry of Human Resources Development and responsibility fixed for non establishment of Model Schools”.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
