Enquiry ordered after merged Delhi school identified for parking project

DCPCR chairperson Anurag Kundu said that the commission had received complaints from local AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi about the school closure, following which the civic body has been asked to submit all the related details

New Delhi: Even as the enrolment numbers force civic bodies in the Capital to merge schools under their jurisdiction, at least one such merger of a school in Karol Bagh by North MCD in 2018 has got the attention of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) which is conducting an inquiry into how the former school has now been identified for a multi-level parking project.

In the last one month, SDMC merged 29 schools and North MCD merged 16 schools. (Picture for representation only/HT)

DCPCR chairperson Anurag Kundu said that the commission had received complaints from local AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi about the school closure, following which the civic body has been asked to submit all the related details. “We had received a reference and in order to gather all the relevant information regarding shutting down the schools, an inquiry is being conducted. It is in initial stage and we will look into the matter,” said Kundu.

In its reply, the education department of North Delhi Municipal Corporation said the school in Bank street on Karol Bagh’s Ajmal Khan Road was closed in 2018 after the number of students dropped to 101. It was subsequently merged with another civic school nearby, said officials.

In the last one month, SDMC merged 29 schools and North MCD merged 16 schools, HT recently reported.

A North MCD official said that they gave their reply to the commission a few days ago. “The matter is related to a proposal taken up by North MCD to construct a multilevel parking at its land at Bank street, Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh, which was earlier used for running two primary schools. The MLA has alleged that closure of school has led to children being forced to travel 3-5km to other schools,” the official explained.

The report filed by the corporation, a copy of which was seen by HT, said that the two municipal corporation primary schools for boys and girls, functioning from the premises at Ajmal Khan road, were merged in 2008 and the boys school was converted into an office of municipal magistrate. “Subsequently, the merged school was also merged with another school in Shiv Nagar of Karol Bagh (in 2018),” the report states.

The merger proposal was cleared by the standing committee on November 16, 2018, with the education committee arguing that this will lead to better management.

The report further added that the existing structures were found to be in a dilapidated and dangerous condition for occupation, and as a result, the office of the municipal magistrate too was shifted in 2018. The building was later demolished in 2019.

“The vacant land was handed over to jewellery market association for running surface level parking in 2019. Now the engineering department has processed a case for construction of multilevel parking at this site as per provision of Master Plan of Delhi-2021 on a public-private partnership model,” the report mentions.

Kundu said all the factors will be looked into during the investigation to see if the decision of shutting down school was right or not.