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6,127 govt schools in HP have less than 20 students: Education minister
BJP, Congress MLAs spar over declining enrolment in schools at assembly
Several BJP legislators got into heated arguments with the members of opposition at Himachal Pradesh assembly on Friday, over declining enrolment in government schools.
During question hour, Jawalamukhi legislator Ramesh Chand Dhawala sought information on the number of schools in the state with less than 20 students.
In his reply, education and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Bhardwaj said that there are 6,127 schools with enrolment of less than 20 students.
He added that there are 4,994 government primary schools, 1,092 middle schools, 32 high schools and nine senior secondary schools in the state where student strength is less than 20.
Bhardwaj said that during the Congress regime, many schools set up without seeking financial approval. He said that schools were opened indiscriminately for political gains. Last year, 80 schools in the state had no enrolment at all, he added.
Teaching and other staff was accommodated in other schools. He said under the Right to Education Act, schools should be located within 1km distance . According to the act, minimum enrolment of 25 students is required in a school.
Reasoning the decline, he said that parents preferred to send their children in private schools, as government schools did not offer pre-primary classes. Bhardwaj said that the ruling government has started pre-primary classes in 3,300 with a total of 50,000 students.
Kinnaur legislator Jagat Singh Negi sought details on the number of schools set up with political consideration. Bhardwaj used a Hindi proverb pointing towards Congress member holding the previous regime responsible for decline in enrolment . This agitated Congress members, as they insisted the minister to withdraw his remarks. Pandemonium prevailed in the house as opposition members started sloganeering against the government.
Intervening in the matter, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said that there is a tradition in the house that legislators used proverbs and couplets to keep their viewpoints. However, the opposition stressed upon expunging the remarks from proceedings.
Lack of quorum halts budget session
The discussion on the ongoing Budget session was delayed in Himachal Pradesh assembly on Friday due to lack of quorum. The opposition targeted the government for lack of quorum and staged a walkout of the assembly.
The house was adjourned for a lunch break at 1pm and was to reassemble at 2 pm. However, during the lunch break, BJP candidate for Rajya Sabha filed her nomination papers. The house reassembled at the fixed time but the quorum was incomplete as at least one-third of the total members were not present.
Congress legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan, who was present in the house at that time, protested against the delay in restarting the proceedings and left. They only returned after repeated requests by the presiding speaker Ramesh Dhawala, who said that the delay was caused due to the nomination filing.
