According to a report, 49% of Delhi Civic School students have not received financial aid since 2016.
An audit report by the Department of Education of the local body, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), states that about 3.8 lakh pupils, or 48.74 per cent of the student population, have not received financial benefits under various government schemes from 2016–2017 to 2022–2023.
According to the audit report dated November 11, 2023, which India Today TV was able to get, the non-opening of bank accounts necessary for the disbursement of funds resulted in about 3,83,203 pupils losing out on government plan benefits.
The Office of Chief Auditor at the MCD prepared the audit report. It is a legally mandated body that reviews the municipal body’s monthly financial statements and reports to the Standing Committee.
The MCD decided in 2016–2017 that the payments under these government schemes will be delivered to students via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) because they have separate bank accounts.
The audit report said that the MCD’s Education Department’s goal of having 100% of Aadhaar cards generated for bank account openings could not be met.
Out of the entire number of pupils, over seven lakh (7,86,205), just about four lakh (4,03,003) had opened bank accounts, according to the data.
In addition, more than a lakh (1,36,599) pupils did not open bank accounts despite possessing Aadhar cards.
“Due to absence of adequate process and proper monitoring of data connected to bank accounts of students registered in the school, the financial advantages offered by the department under various schemes could not reach the pupils.
The Right to Education Act, 2009 is broken when funding for these programs isn’t provided,” the audit report stated.
According to the audit report, MCD should begin the process of opening bank accounts in April of the 2023–2024 fiscal year and give itself until June 30 to finish.
To make the procedure easier, the civic authority has been urged to advise all the schools to create bank accounts ahead of time and to sign MOUs with the banks.
