BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the state government to submit a time-bound plan to provide basic infrastructure to government schools.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by the Anti-Corruption Council of India, a social organisation, which pointed out the lack of infrastructure in government schools.

Indicating that the said plan was initially for 889 schools, which lacked basic facilities as depicted in the sample survey conducted by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA), the division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Mohammad Nawaz said that financial constraints cannot be a reason for not providing basic infrastructure.

The court specified that all schools covered under the provisions of the RTE Act should be provided with basic infrastructure facilities.

The court’s direction came after it took note of the findings of the aforementioned survey. In view of the findings, the court directed a state government officer to file an affidavit in two weeks explaining time frame needed to provide facilities as per the standards prescribed in the RTE Act.

The KSLSA had conducted a sample survey of 889 schools and collected data from 70,000 schools before submitting the report to the court.