MALDA, Feb. 9: Both the Malda district magistrate Mr Sridhar Ghosh and the zilla parishad sabhadhipati Mrs Sabina Yeasmin have asked block development officers (BDOs) and sabhadipatis to complete the process of opening bank accounts in the names of the newly formed Village Education Committees (VECs). Mr Ghosh and Mrs Yeasmin are anxious that allotted funds from the Sarba Shikhsha Abhijan (SSA) are utilised by the end of this financial year in March.
The district project office for SSA had allotted Rs 15 crore to the 31 circle offices to be used to develop the infrastructure of various schools. However, last year's panchayat polls and the formation of new panchayat bodies has delayed the distribution of funds. Several new VECs had been formed across the district after last year's rural polls, but have not been able to open bank accounts due to lack of approval from their respective panchayat samitis. The district magistrate, Mr Sridhar Ghosh, has asked the BDOs to look into the matter so that the education department is able to release waiting funds to the VECs to be utilized on the the district schools. Due to the model code of conduct imposed by the Sujapur by-polls, the list of schools, prepared by the district in December and January, cannot be published.
The district inspector of schools and project officer of the SSA, Mr Chinmay Sarkar, urged the district magistrate and sabhadhipati to end these delays and open bank account for every VEC as soon as possible. The project officer of the SSA in Malda will review the situation at the end of this week. It may be noted that after formation of the new gram panchayat boards following the rural polls last year, the number of VECs had dropped from 2,100 to 1,468 and committee members had been changed. n SNS
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