Residential schools and hostels for Scheduled Tribes run by the previous BJP government in Madhya Pradesh have come under the scrutiny of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
In a report tabled in the M.P. Assembly, the CAG report for 2012-13 to 2016-17 blamed the Commissioner, Tribal Development, for submitting fictitious utilisation certificates amounting to ₹113.84 crore in respect of grants-in-aid received from the Union government during the same period.
It also noted large-scale advances of ₹30.69 crore released to 18 District Collectors, which remained unutilised till August 2018.
The CAG spoke about tests it conducted in Dhar, Mandla and Shahdol districts to detect ₹6.03 crore advances, but was unable to trace them.
In the voluminous report, the CAG found that residential schools, hostels were deficient in infrastructure such as inadequate accommodation for inmates as well as staff, toilets, dining space, library and sports material.
The CAG noted that under the Eklavya Model Residential School scheme, 29 schools were set up to provide quality education to ST category students from Classes VI to XII, but shortage of teachers adversely affected the quality of education. Moreover, the overall pass percentage of Class XII students in EMRS was extremely poor.
However, the State BJP said some of the findings of CAG may not be true. Not all figures mentioned in the CAG report are relevant, Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari told a news channel.
