Tamil Nadu - Chennai

‘Fire safety norms flouted at schools’

CHENNAI: Flouting of fire safety norms at several municipal schools, haphazard disinfection of drinking water for rural population and poor fiscal management by many panchayat unions are among the Comptroller and Auditor General’s audit findings for 2006-07 for local bodies in Tamil Nadu.

In a commentary on the state of utilisation of elementary education fund and maintenance of schools, the CAG report—released to the media on Tuesday—said the five municipal corporations (other than Chennai) had failed to provide fire extinguishers in 151 schools, an omission that is all the more stark in a State which pays annual homage to more than 90 children who perished in a school fire at Kumbakonam in 2004.

The report also noted that municipal corporations had also failed to provide for playgrounds in 64 schools and water supply or library facility in 34 schools. The local bodies had provided only 851 urinals and 1,001 toilets in 258 schools under their control.

“The overall student strength in elementary and higher education schools came down by 6,512 (31 per cent) and 5,520 (22 per cent) during 2002-07,” it said.

The report, which was tabled in the Assembly on November 14, also took up scrutiny of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Besides the failure to finalise the envisaged five-year plan (as of October, 2007), the government was yet to frame the rules for implementing the Act of 2005. Barely 0.27 per cent (1,824 households) got the guideline minimum of 100 days of job. Principal Accountant-General Shankar Narayan said one of the reasons for it could be the fact that the NREGS was a relatively new programme.

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