Committee to review 290 schools starts work,report to be submitted on Monday Students of schools run by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC),where poor hygiene and infrastructure are common,can look forward to better days ahead. The PMC School Board has set up a 26-member committee to review the condition of the 290 schools under the PMC. The process kicked off on Thursday and the committee will submit its report on Monday. The PMC,every year,sanctions a budget in lieu of hygiene and infrastructure at schools. The amount varies every year. Despite the funds sanctioned (Rs 2 crore was set aside this year),hygiene remains a cause for concern,school board members said. A report by Action for the Rights of the Child (ARC) was handed over to the committee. The group had done a survey of various PMC schools in 2009. However,the department allegedly did little to improve the situation in the school. At that time,we covered many of the PMC schools and found they were in pathetic condition. We had come up with a report and had forwarded it to the PMC. The civic body carried out a survey as well and agreed to our reports. But,nothing was done in this regard. However,if the PMC is finally waking up to the problem,it is for the good of the thousands of students going to these schools, Nakul Kate of ARC. The committee comprises 10 supervisors,nine sports coordinators,four assistant education officers and three deputy education officers. It will carry out a thorough survey of the 290 schools. PMC education officer Ramchandra Jadhav said each officer would cover 10 schools. The complete survey will be carried out in three days. Our department has written to the ward officers informing them of the survey. The ward officers will have to take action in accordance with the reports submitted, said Jadhav. There are many schools where the conditions of toilets are bad. There is no cleanliness,the floors and taps are broken. Also,in many toilets,there is no water supply thereby making them unclean and unhygienic. Our objective is to solve these problems before the new session starts.
