‘It is evident that there was inadequate planning, coordination and implementation’
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 1
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in its report for the year ended March 31, 2016 has pointed out several deficiencies in the implementation of the Right to Education Act in the state.
One of the areas where discrepancy was detected was in the distribution of text books and uniforms under Section 3(2) of the RTE Act.
The report informed that the receipt and issue register of text books and uniforms were not maintained in the schools. During interaction with the head teachers/teachers-in-charge of 90 sample schools, the CAG found several irregularities.
These included delay in receipt of books and uniforms; distribution of books based on previous enrollment data leading to insufficiency of books and poor/inferior quality of books received.
“It is evident that there was inadequate planning, coordination and implementation in provision of free textbooks and uniforms,” the CAG concluded.
While examining records at the directorate level, the CAG discovered that the fund approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) during the current year for purchase of free text books were utilized for the purpose only in the subsequent year. Further, the requirement of books was assessed based on the data of enrollment furnished by the SDEOs and DEOs.
It also reported that the department purchased books in excess of the actual requirement every year except in 2013-14 and during the last five years, a total of 106,921 books were procured in excess. Despite purchase of excess text books, some schools reported insufficient receipt of text books. This, the CAG said, points towards “inadequate monitoring mechanism in the department.”
The State Mission Director (SMD), SSA on its part, while accepting the facts, stated on October 2016 that the matter has been noted for compliance, informed the CAG.
Regarding the distribution of uniforms, the CAG reported that procurement of uniform has not been decentralized as mandated. Instead, the uniforms were procured by the State Mission Authority (except in 2014-15) and distributed to the districts for further distribution to the blocks/schools. It further informed that no uniforms were purchased during 2015-16.
According to the CAG, the fund approved by the PAB for procurement of uniforms was not sufficient to cover the cost. To meet the additional expenditure for procurement of uniforms, Rs 15.14 Crore was diverted from the fund meant for special training under SSA.
Further, it was observed that uniforms were supplied and delivered to the districts and the Education Block Resource Centers (ENRCs) after a delay ranging from 20 days to five months, resulting in delay in distribution to the students. The CAG specifically pointed out that in the academic year 2016, cloth was distributed instead of stitched uniforms. “Therefore many poor students could not afford the stitching charges,” it added.
Meanwhile, the CAG also reported that from the U-DISE data, the actual number of students enrolled in government schools was only 573,879 during the year 2011-15. However, it noted that the department procured uniforms for 779,835 students by “inflating the enrollment figure.” This, it stated “resulted in avoidable excess expenditure of Rs 11.96 Crore towards the purchase of uniforms.”
Regarding this, the SMD, SSA in its reply on October, 2016 stated that the PAB approves as per the figures of students enrollment based on U-DISE and therefore there should not be a mismatch.
The CAG however pointed out that the government needs to ensure that adequate number of uniforms are procured and distributed timely to the students.
