BMC hits pause on school privatisation model; panel to rethink policy

MUMBAI: The BMC has cancelled a tender that sought to hand over the Durgadevi Municipal School plot near Chor Bazaar to a private organisation, the fifth and final school brought under a controversial privatisation process launched in December last year

MUMBAI: The BMC has cancelled a tender that sought to hand over the Durgadevi Municipal School plot near Chor Bazaar to a private organisation, the fifth and final school brought under a controversial privatisation process launched in December last year.

The decision comes after firm opposition from ruling and opposition political parties as well as parents to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, where civic-run schools would be handed over to private entities including non-profits to build and run for a 30-year-period.

The Durgadevi Marathi and Urdu municipal school was slated for privatisation after it was declared dangerous under the C1 category. Students were shifted to other municipal school facilities to ensure their safety. Parents and local residents had demanded that the BMC rebuild the school instead of handing over its land to private players.

After the Durgadevi Municipal School tender was scrapped on Friday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray claimed victory, saying in a post on X, “We have succeeded in thwarting the move to hand over the Durgadevi Municipal School in Kumbharwada to a private organization under a PPP arrangement… We will not allow even an inch of land belonging to Mumbai’s municipal schools to fall into the hands of private developers. We will not let the BJP sell Mumbai!”

The six schools brought under the PPP policy were Durgadevi Municipal School, Kanya Shala in Malad, Mahim BMC School, MHB Urdu School in Malad, Vakola BMC School and Thakur Village BMC School.

Critics of the policy pointed to various flaws, including the fact that only 25% seats in each privatised school would be reserved for free education under the Right to Education Act. Moreover, critics pointed out, the shift did not justify the revenue the BMC would receive under this model.

In September, the civic administration appointed a committee under joint municipal commissioner Sanjog Kabare to review the policy. In October, it paused the implementation of the PPP model and started the process to cancel the tenders it had awarded to five private entities to operate and manage these schools.

Deputy municipal commissioner Prachi Jambhekar was not available to comment on the matter.