Assam: Gunotsav begins today after 2-year gap even as electricity eludes many schools

GUWAHATI: While the annual Gunotsav programme is set to begin on Wednesday to assess government schools in Assam after a gap of two years because of the pandemic, more than 27,000 schools are still functioning without electricity. In this age of digital classrooms, many schools still do not have basic infrastructure like electricity.
In the last evaluation in 2017-2018, it was noted that about 16,632 schools were without electrical connections.Sadly, they have not received funds yet for electrical connections. Sources in the education department told TOI on Tuesday that 20,928 schools received funds for electricity under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) based on the recommendations of the external evaluators of Gunotsav in 2017-2018.
“About 37,560 government schools did not have electricity during the last Gunotsav but 20,928 got funds. Of these,10,563 schools have been given electricity connection,” said the source.
Though in the remaining 10,365 schools, the process of providing electricity is in progress, sources said no time limit has been set for completing the task. In the remaining 16,632 schools, no funds have been allocated yet.
While the government has tried to cover up the gloomy picture by hastility giving power connections to some district schools around Guwahati, hundreds of schools in remote areas are still in the dark. Around 1,600 schools in Kamrup district got electricity recently and a few more may get solar panels soon.
“It is very sad that when the government has taken up the initiative to provide power connection to all households, thousands of government schools are struggling without electricity. Can we compete with private schools in this way,” asked general secretary of the Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association, Ratul Chandra Goswami.
Digital classrooms remain a distant dream for hundreds of children in government schools, many of which are located in areas close to district headquarters. TOI recently reported several elementary schools in central Assam’s Nagaon district which lacked electricity even though neighbouring villages had electricity.