From March, 1.5 lakh cams at 700 Delhi govt schools under Rs 290 crore plan

NEW DELHI: To ensure safety of children in schools, the Delhi government will install close to 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras in 700 of its schools. The public works department (PWD) will float the tender for the Rs 290-crore project in a couple of days and the work will begin from March.
Nearly 150-200 CCTVs will be installed in each school in consultation with the principals.Officials said parents would be given real-time access to CCTV feed to the classroom. “It is one of the main tender conditions. The contractor has to provide the facility to allow access to parents to see their children studying in the class on a real-time basis. Each parent will be given a login either on phone or computer to access the live feed,” said an official.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal recently held a review meeting with deputy CM and education minister Manish Sisodia, PWD minister Satyendar Jain and senior officials. Sources said it was decided to start the project at the earliest.
Though PWD has floated the tenders, the work will be executed by Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC). DSIIDC, as a pilot project, had installed CCTVs in five government schools last year. Sources said PWD has been asked to assist in finalising the rate of contract due to its expertise in these large-scale projects.

“The work will be executed by DSIIDC in consultation with the school principals,” said Sarvagya Srivastava, engineer-in-chief, Delhi PWD. Sources said PWD would not work on the project due to shortage of manpower.
The primary maintenance and day to day operations would be managed by DSIIDC. As part of the terms and condition of the contract, the contractor would have to provide basic maintenance for a period of five year, the official said.
This is the second big CCTV project, which is one of AAP’s main election promises, taken up by the government. PWD had recently floated tenders for installing 1.4 lakh cameras in markets and residential colonies in the city. The government plans to install 2,000 cameras in each assembly constituency and has earmarked Rs 350 crore for the project.
Though the tender for the Rs 350-crore project was floated in November 2017, PWD had to recall it following poor response. PWD officials said the deadline has been extended till January 30.