Govt transport facilities lifeline for edu in Maha villages without schools, says minister Bhuse

Time of India

2 days ago

Pune: Lawmakers seem to have different views about the situation of school education in the state's rural parts.
While Parner MLA Kashinath Date recently told the Assembly that 8,123 villages across Maharashtra do not have either primary or upper primary schools, presenting a grim situation for rural education, school education minister Dada Bhuse said the statistics were "partially true" and that children were not missing out on education as the state govt was providing a facility to transport them to nearby villages that have schools.
Date had based his statement in the Assembly on statistics from the Union education ministry's Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) that collects data from all recognised and unrecognised schools in India — from pre-primary to Std XII. The data showed that of the 8,123 Maharashtra villages mentioned by UDISE, 1,650 had no primary schools and 6,563 no upper primary schools.
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In his written reply to the Assembly, Bhuse said the statistics were "partially true", because state govt provided services to transport students to nearby villages that have schools.
He said: "The children are not missing out on education because of unavailability of schools in their villages. We have made adequate transport arrangements to ensure schooling for such children in nearby villages."
Bhuse said: "According to Part 3 Section 6 (3) (1) of the Right to Education Act, 2009, transportation facility is provided under Samagra Shiksha to students from settlements where schools are not available within the prescribed area limits — 1km for primary level, 3km for upper primary and 5km for secondary levels".
Senior officials in the education department said a provision of Rs 60,000 has been sanctioned for transportation facilities at the rate of Rs 600 per student for 10 months. An official said a detailed survey would soon be conducted to assess the educational needs of the villages without schools and, accordingly, new schools would be planned in such villages.
As per the UDISE data, the situation is grim in the Ratnagiri, Parbhani, Yavatmal, Solapur and Ahmednagar regions where maximum number of villages lack schools, said Date.
Places such as Pune, Nashik and Thane are also in the bracket with few schools.
However, the deteriorating infrastructure in several existing schools compounds the crisis. For instance, in Chandrapur's Sonapur village, students have been studying under the open sky for two months after the school's roof was blown away. Date said: "These shortcomings in the education department underline the urgent need for stronger policy and immediate intervention to improve rural education in Maharashtra.
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Regarding the infrastructure shortcomings, Bhuse said as per a govt decision dated June 29, 2000, if a permanent drinking water facility is not available, instructions have been given to make arrangements for temporary storage of drinking water. Also, as per a govt decision dated April 16, 2025, instructions have been given to provide pure drinking water through tap connections under Jal Jeevan Mission Minor Mineral Scheme.
Under Samagra Shiksha, 1,668 separate toilets for boys and 1,087 for girls are being constructed this year.
"A districtwise review has been conducted to identify the worst-affected districts and prepare an action plan. Govt is focusing on steps to avert educational losses and ensure that children in all villages get the equaly opportunity to study," a senior education official told TOI on the condition of anonymity.