The Bharatiya Janata Party government’s efforts to raise funds for schools from donors have started bearing fruits in Rajasthan with the help of the dedicated ‘Gyan Sankalp’ portal. Thirty-one projects worth ₹28.04 crore for 133 government schools have been approved in the category since the formation of the new government.
‘Gyan Sankalp’ is an online platform which seeks to address the education funding gap by linking government initiatives with individual and corporate social responsibility (CSR) donors, who can directly support the State government in these initiatives. The Education Department has created the portal to resolve the issue of financial deficit faced by the schools.
State Project Director Avichal Chaturvedi said here on February 12 that the orders for approval of projects had been issued after the decision taken at a meeting of the State-level Scrutiny Committee here recently. The schools are situated in as many as 14 districts.
The works to be taken up with the help of donors will include the construction of new school buildings, renovation of classrooms and school offices and construction of toilets. Mr. Chaturvedi said five of the projects would be implemented with an expenditure of ₹2 crore each.
The institutions which have offered to contribute funds to the schools include Indira Devi Jethmal Rathi Trust, G.R. Infra Social Welfare Trust, Garhwal Parivar Sansthan and Tara Devi Lal Chand Singhvi Trust. The schools are situated in Alwar, Kota, Jalore, Jaipur, Nagaur, Pali, Banswara, Baran, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Sirohi and Jhunjhunu districts.
Education Minister Madan Dilawar has indicated a review of the funding process for the government schools while affirming that the generation of funds would be streamlined to ensure their optimum utilisation. The BJP government also intends to review the efficacy of some categories of schools launched during the previous Congress regime.
