Saturday, January 3, 2009

After Public Outcry MCD now denies that they had any plans to replace schools with malls!!!

Dear Friends,

After the public outcry, now MCD denies of having any plans ... contrary to the statements of their senior officials including the Chairman of the Education Committee to the media. Chief Minister Dixit writes to the L.G. to intervene.

Here is the link:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMDkvMDEvMDMjQXIwMDQwMQ==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

regards
Subhash Chandra Vashishth


MCD denies it had any plans to auction schools
Nitin Sethi & Ruhi Bhasin TNN

New Delhi: MCD on Friday sought to deny that it was planning to sell vacant schools for developing malls, banquet halls and shops, but a presentation — ‘Proposal on property development for vacant school premises’ — gives the game away entirely.

As a red-faced MCD brass issues disclaimers, the civic body’s plans are encapsulated in the view “Ideate, develop and suggest creative concept for utilisation of school premises” laid in the presentation, a copy of which is with Times City. The presentation advocates that commercially viable ‘vacant’ schools be sold while those in prime areas be turned into community halls and other non-business centres.

Stung by the premature disclosure of the controversial plan, MCD’s standing committee chairman Vijender Gupta claimed, “MCD has no plans to auction or sell its primary school premises to bolster its finances or for any other reason. The civic body is against auctioning or selling its schools.” Municipal commissioner K S Mehra also denied any such proposal was under consideration.

The denials fly in the face of documents with TOI as well as the statement of the chairman of education committee, Prithvi Raj Sawhney. Sawhney had told TOI on Wednesday, “We have identified 60 schools... while 45 such schools will be used by other departments under MCD... we are planning to auction 15 of them for commercial use since we do not require them.”

Sawhney, in an interview to a Hindi TV channel on Wednesday, also said, “Malls bana sakte hain, shopping centre bana sakte hain, koi bhi commercial activity. Lekin hum sare schools ki baat nahin kar rahe, kuch school bahut chhote hain, un jagah par community centre nahin hain, to who demand ayegi to centre ban sakte hain (Even malls or shopping centres can come up; any commercial activity can take place. But we are not talking of all schools. Some schools are too small, in those places if a demand for community centre arises, we will make them).” Take the 3,158 sq metre primary school in Karampura A Block that MCD wanted to break down. MCD’s internal presentation noted it was closer to commercial areas and easily accessible therefore it should be turned into a centre for retail and offices. On Ajmal Khan Road, a 1,000 sq metre plot school is recommended to be turned into the high-end boutique Gold Souk with multi-storeyed parking lot as there are other small jewellery shops in the neighbourhood. The 2,548 sq metre plot in R K Puram was to become a 3-star guest house with a minimum of three rooms for MCD and a conference hall. MCD’s proposal noted that the project “shall become good revenue generation opportunities for MCD” and “shall be lucrative enough for BOT system”.

The only premises MCD was considering for non-commercial purposes are those which would not fetch much. Such as the school in Karol Bagh that MCD noted was ‘trapped’ by residential properties with a very poor approach so should be turned into a vocational training centre to be adopted by FICCI or other apex trade body. The presentation was made in October 2008 to run these on Build-Operate-Transfer basis. By December, when TOI accessed fresh documents, the list had been expanded, as per MCD officials’ own admission to 60 schools of which 15 would be ready for grabs soon. Meanwhile, the chief minister has written to th L-G asking him to intervene in the matter. toireporter@timesgroup.com

Malls in place of Schools - Does MCD care about Education Infrastructure for coming generations?

Dear Friends,

I am pained at the insensitivity and perhaps the "it doesn't affect our children for they don't go to MCD's third grade schools for the poor" mentality of the MCD decision makers who don't seem to care! There are approximately 3-5 lacs of children in Delhi who have no access to schools. Schools are very important infrastructure that we create for future generation. Given the space constraint in Delhi, I don't think there will be any space left to create schools once the premises earmarked for some 60 schools is given away to the malls and hotels. I am not against malls and hotels and development but just looking at 2010 games and to make money by selling this land - the MCD has no right to play with future generations!

This children don't come to these schools because these schools have been allowed to decay and degrade to the extent that no parent is intrested to send their children. Instead of upgrading the quality of education and attracting and targeting the out-of-school children, MCD is using the excuse that children don't come to these schools and there is no harm in giving these premises to hotels and malls!! This is absolutely ridiculous!

Please don't take away little available play and education spaces from children in the name of development. This is a cruel joke played on the right to education and neigbourhood school concept. Where will the children of these localities go to study and play if you turn these open spaces in to hotels and malls??

regards
Subhash Chandra Vashishth

15 MCD schools may be turned into malls, hotels
Nitin Sethi & Ruhi Bhasin TNN

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has hit upon a unique plan to bolster its finances: the civic body proposes to auction 60 school campuses for construction of malls and hotels even as it struggles to cater to the educational needs of nine lakh children, mainly from poor families, enrolled in MCD schools. A proposal to auction 15 of the identified schools has been forwarded to the MCD commissioner even as the corporation faces increasing pressure to cater to more students. Interestingly, MCD had originally planned to sell off only nine schools but has now increased the number to be eventually auctioned to 60.


DO THE MATH
65% of primary schools in city run by MCD.
60 campuses to be auctioned
Proposal to sell 15 schools sent to MCD chief
School in Ashok Nagar is on 1.5 acres; another in Moti Nagar East (2,350sqm) — all areas where no fresh land is available MCD says schools are unused; experts say 3-5 lakh children in city have no access to primary schools

Schools lying vacant is MCD explanation

New Delhi: MCD had originally planned to sell off nine schools but has now increased this number to 60. The MCD’s reasoning is that the schools are lying vacant and unused. But the civic body seems to have forgotten that it is mandated to provide an essential service through its neighbourhood schools and not to hand over prime plots to developers. The demand for
schools, in particular those offering education at reasonable costs, is unlikely to flag.

Confirming MCD’s plans, Prithviraj Sahni, chairman of the education committee, told TOI, ‘‘We have identified 60 schools that have been lying vacant. A proposal to auction 15 has been forwarded to commissioner K S Mehra.’’ While MCD seems to be eyeing schools — some of them by its own admission in good condition — as lucrative land to be sold off to earn a few big bucks, experts point out that an estimated 3-5 lakh children have no access to primary schools,
considering the city’s large migrant population. MCD’s refusal to consider reviving the schools is surprising, considering the Delhi government has repeatedly asked the corporation to hand over the campuses to it as state government-run schools are overflowing with students and lack space and infrastructure. MCD runs roughly 65% of primary schools in the Capital. While Sahni said the corporation was moving ahead to auction the schools, the MCD commissioner, on the other hand, claimed he was not aware of any such proposal. While 15 schools are up for grabs, Sahni said the other 45 would be used by MCD for different purposes. TOI accessed the
list of schools MCD plans to break down and it throws some light on why MCD wants to sell them off — some of them are sitting on large plots in areas where no fresh land is available. In Ashok Nagar, the school likely to go on the block occupies 1.5 acres. The one in Karanpur sits on 3,158 sqm while the campus in Moti Nagar East has a 2,350sqm plot. Said Vijendra Gupta, MCD standing committee chairman, ‘‘If such a proposal comes before us, we will carry out a detailed study. We will ensure that it is in public interest.” toireporter@timesgroup.com