Delhi: High Court pulls up Arvind Kejriwal government on delay in construction of school

Delhi High Court sought the Delhi government's response regarding an application seeking to construct a new school building after it was demolished due to COVID-19. The school was previously operated in tents and porta cabins.

The Delhi government has been given notice and requested to respond to the court's enquiry by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

The tender has been re-awarded, and work on the new building may finally begin, according to Santosh Kumar Tripathi, the standing counsel for the Delhi government. The judge set July 20 as the new date for another hearing.

To make way for a new school building, the Government Girls Secondary School and Government Boys Secondary School in Mustafabad, northeast Delhi, were demolished, and the high court was hearing a petition from the NGO Social Jurist, represented by advocate Ashok Agarwal, that asked the court to order the Delhi government to build 56 classrooms immediately so that the schools could continue operating.

According to the plea, Rs 16.54 crore was sanctioned to the Public Works Department (PWD) in June 2021 for the construction of additional classrooms, but work has not yet begun.

"It is a blatant failure on the part of respondents to discharge their constitutional and legal obligations to provide education to children of masses," it said.

The government was blamed for the delay in the plea.

(With inputs from PTI)