Bhubaneswar: The ‘Godavarish Mishra Adarsh Prathamika Vidyalaya’ project has been positioned as a flagship programme for the development of primary education in the state since the new government came to power.
A high-level review meeting on the scheme was held at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar to make its implementation more effective. For the current financial year, the government has made a provision of more than Rs 2200 crore for the project.
In comparison, only Rs 50 crore was provided in the first budget. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed annoyance over the delay in the process of identifying land for construction of the schools. The Chief Minister said there may be some difficulty in getting land in coastal districts, but there should be no problem in other districts.
He stated that five acres of land is required for construction of the mega campus.
Special emphasis will be given to identifying five acres for Green Field projects within panchayats. For schools where less than five acres is available, adjoining government or private land can be purchased and used, he added. Majhi told District Collectors that their sincerity and cooperation is essential for the success of the project.
He urged everyone to take it seriously and complete the set targets.
He said if the administration works seriously, 2200 schools can be constructed very soon. The target is to set up a total of about 7000 model primary schools in the state.
The Chief Minister has set a deadline of March 20 to complete construction of 2200 schools in the first phase. District Collectors have been asked to monitor the progress every week and submit a weekly report to the Secretary of the School and Mass Education Department.
The Chief Minister will himself review the project every month. He also directed Collectors to seek help from MLAs of the concerned areas to resolve local land issues, if required.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Development Commissioner D. K. Singh, Secretary, School and Mass Education Department N. Tirumala and OSEPA Director Ananya Das.
