87,000 classrooms in Rajasthan govt schools completely dilapidated, preliminary survey finds

Additionally, there are rooms which qualify for a major repair. These include 1,58,467 rooms with tiled roofs and 51,026 rooms which have a Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) roof.

When it comes to toilets too, 36,154 were found to be fine while 17,109 toilets were “completely dilapidated” and 29,093 toilets were found repairable.

However, officials said that the findings are part of a “preliminary survey” and that a more detailed report of this survey is being prepared by technical officers, which could lead to changes in these findings.

Meanwhile, hearing a suo motu petition, a Bench of Justices Mahendar Kumar Goyal and Ashok Kumar Jain restrained the state government from using dilapidated school buildings and rooms till further orders.

The state government has been instructed “to make suitable alternative arrangements so that study of the affected students is not hampered” in the meantime.

The Rajasthan HC had taken suo motu cognisance following the Jhalawar incident and appointed advocates Mahendra Shandilya, Swadeep Singh Hora and Tanmay Dhand as amicus curiae in the case. “The HC instructed the government to close the rooms immediately,” Hora said.

The government has been instructed to submit a technical report too. The case has now been listed for September 4.

According to the 2024-25 Economic Review, there were 45,531 government primary/upper primary schools and 19,739 government senior secondary schools in Rajasthan.

A senior education department official said that the state has over 5.14 lakh classrooms. “According to the preliminary survey, 16 percent of the classrooms require major repair,” the official said.

Officials claim that survey numbers are high as it was conducted by teachers who reported the issues with classrooms “in a state of panic and fear” in the aftermath of the Jhalawar tragedy.

Since then, the district collectors have been asked to conduct a technical verification drive, drawing engineers from other departments and get back with the figures.

“So that will be a figure that will stand for us. And then, through a mix of government and non-government agencies, we are going to seek funds and do as much as we can and as early as we can,” the official said.

On July 25, the roof of a government school in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district had caved in, killing seven students and leaving eight injured. The incident had prompted the state’s Bhajan Lal Sharma government to order a probe and led to the suspension of five government teachers.

Within a few days of this episode, a student died and two others were injured when the main gate of a school collapsed on them in Jaisalmer.

In the aftermath of the Jhalawar incident, Education Minister Madan Dilawar had ordered a survey of schools through the district collector, with instructions that buildings found to be dilapidated should be marked for demolition and other arrangements should be made for holding classes.

Additionally, a plan was made to link all dilapidated and repairable buildings with a Geographic Information System-based app. The government also set up a cell for checking the quality of construction.

At a subsequent programme for Non-Resident Rajasthanis in Mumbai, Dilawar announced that Rs 175 crore had been released for repairing Rajasthan’s 2,000 government schools, also appealing for donations from the group.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also met Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi. According to officials, the Union Minister agreed to release a total of Rs 3,900 crore for the state – Rs 3,200 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and Rs 697.88 crore for setting up Information and Communication Technology (ICT), smart classes and science labs in Rajasthan’s schools.

The first instalment of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan will be released soon to the state, officials said.