Delhi Congress on Thursday alleged that the BJP and AAP governments were trying to privatise education in the garb of the National Education Policy.
It alleged that a blatant example of this was Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia’s statement that the 12 Delhi University colleges under the Delhi Government should generate its own funds to pay the salaries of staffers as the Delhi government’s grant should be treated only “as supplementary assistance”. The party said that “the main reason for the AAP government withholding the funds, however, is the non-formation of governing bodies in these colleges and the rise in the salary bills,” the party said.
Delhi Congress chief Ch. Anil Kumar said the BJP and AAP were “on the same page” in pushing the privatisation agenda of the corporates in the education sector. He said that without government funding, no college can survive on its own.
“The teachers and staffers of 12 colleges under the Delhi government have not got their salaries for the past five months as the Delhi government has not released the funds, but the Deputy Chief Minister, who is also the Education Minister of Delhi, is trying to justify the withholding of funds on one pretext or other, which is bereft of democratic ethos and moral norms,” Mr. Kumar said. He added that the teachers and staffers of these 12 colleges are under tremendous financial crisis due to the non-payment of their salaries, with many even not being able to pay their rents, EMIs and other financial obligations.
Mr. Kumar said that there are three kinds of audits in these colleges – internal audit, which is done by the respective colleges; ELFA audit of the Delhi government and AGCR audit, which is done by the CAG on regular intervals in all colleges. He said that there should be action on audit reports of deviations, if any.
