The Hindu : Mahiti Sindhu: `Rs. 65 cr. paid in excess to institutes'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 25, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Mahiti Sindhu: `Rs. 65 cr. paid in excess to institutes'

By Our Staff Reporter

Bangalore July 24. The Chief Whip of the BJP in the Legislative Council, G. Madhusudan, today alleged that the State Government had made an excess payment of Rs. 64.98 crore to three computer institutes to implement the Mahiti Sindhu programme in 1,000 schools, and demanded that it take steps to recover the amount.

Initiating a debate on the issue, he said the Government engaged Aptech, NIIT, and Educom to impart computer education to schoolchildren. The schools were categorised as `A', `B', and `C'. Those with 150 students came under `A' category, those with up to 250 students under `B', and those with 250 and above under `C' category. They had quoted the fee for imparting computer education in schools under the three categories as Rs. 9.77 lakh, Rs. 13 lakh, and Rs. 16.50 lakh, respectively, for each school.

In the normal course, the Government should have held negotiations on the fee with the institutes and tried to bring down the amount, Mr. Madhusudan said.

However, it gave the institutes Rs. 14.70 lakh, Rs. 19.10 lakh, and Rs. 24.20 lakh, respectively for starting computer courses in each school in the three categories, respectively, for a year. The Government made an excess payment of Rs. 64.98 crore to the computer institutes, he charged.

Mr. Madhusudan said the institutes engaged individual computer engineers as sub-contractors, and handed over the work to them. Even after three years, computers installed in schools under the programme had not been given telephone connection, without which the schoolchildren could not have an Internet facility, he added.

Qualified teachers who were engaged for the programme were not given salaries for six moths, and the computer institutes dismissed those who went on strike demanding immediate payment, he said.

Statement later

The Minister of State for Primary Education, B.K. Chandrasekhar, said that he did not have the documents to provide information sought by Mr. Madhusudan, and requested the Chair to allow him to make a statement on Monday.

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