Mumbai, Jan 13 (Dna): Many schools in Thane and beyond face power cuts on a regular basis forcing them to rent generators or inverters whenever there is Maharashtra State Board of Secondary Higher Secondary Education examination.
The state government on Tuesday sanctioned over Rs21 lakh for schools that arranged for generators and inverters on rent during board examination last year in areas where load shedding is a serious problem.
Many schools in Thane and beyond face power cuts on a regular basis forcing them to rent generators or inverters whenever there is Maharashtra State Board of Secondary Higher Secondary Education examination.
The state government's school education and sports department issued a notification that around 118 secondary schools will be reimbursed for making arrangements of generators and inverters during the state board examination to avoid inconvenience to students due to load shedding.
For this, the state government has sanctioned Rs21,34,656. Some schools spent Rs60,000 for renting the generators and inverters to avoid load shedding during board examination. However, they were disappointed last year when despite making proper arrangements, the government failed to reimburse the money.
On February 24, 2015 the Bombay High Court (HC) directed the state government to ensure that generators are installed in all Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam centres prone to load shedding. The expenditure incurred by these centres was to be borne by the state government.
Prashant Redij, president, Maharashtra Principal Association, said: "This is a very good news for all schools who rented a generator and were not reimbursed by the state government for making this arrangement. Few years ago, the high court directed the state board to reimburse the schools who had rented generator or inverters during board examination. But as they were not in a state to pay the money, the state government's decision to sanction the reimbursement for these schools is a welcome move."