Mumbai: A comprehensive physical inspection and audit conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) over the past two years has exposed severe mismanagement, lack of basic amenities, and financial misappropriation across government-run and aided student hostels in Maharashtra.
Designed to support the education of students from backward and economically weaker sections, many of these facilities were found to be in a state of utter neglect, with some aided hostels turning out to be completely fake. As of March 2024, Maharashtra houses 443 government-run and 2,388 government-aided hostels, catering to 1,21,971 boys and 40,543 girls.
The CAG carried out a direct physical inspection of 18 government and 21 aided hostels, alongside an audit covering the period from 2022 to 2024. Despite the state spending a staggering Rs 2,321 crore on these hostels during the audited period, the ground reality painted a grim picture.
The CAG, in its report submitted to the state legislature on the conclusion of the three-week monsoon session last Friday (July 10), noted a severe lack of essential infrastructure, including dining halls, computer labs, libraries, daily newspapers, televisions, CCTV networks, and power inverters. Regular medical check-ups for students were virtually non-existent. In four locations, students were forced to sit on the floor to eat due to a lack of dining tables and chairs, while a few facilities lacked a dedicated dining space altogether.
Furthermore, safety and accessibility guidelines were openly flouted. While regulations mandate ground-floor accommodation for differently-abled students, facilities in Moshi, Ahmednagar, Dharashiv, Jat, Jalna, and Manish Nagar (Nagpur) had assigned them rooms on upper floors without basic accessibility infrastructure. Basic hygiene and operational compliance were equally poor.
Out of 280 government hostels equipped with biometric attendance systems, only 46 were found to be operational. The audited premises consistently lacked adequate washrooms, quality food, clean drinking water, proper lighting, and the mandatory one-month buffer stock of food grains, said the report.
The audit unearthed serious financial irregularities among government-aided institutions. Out of the 21 aided hostels inspected, six were found to be either permanently locked or still under construction, with absolutely no staff or students present.
The CAG has flagged these as “fake hostels”, revealing that the Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance disbursed Rs 1.62 crore to these non-functional entities over four years, pointing to a blatant misappropriation of public funds.
Specific instances of suspected fraud include Modikhan Hostel (Jalna) operating out of a dilapidated, locked building with no signs of life; the hostel records still showed 38 students and one superintendent.
The state continued to disburse Rs 18 lakh in honorariums here over four years. Jafrabad Hostel, which is built for a capacity of 24 students, was found by the CAG to have dust-laden, unused beds and zero student occupancy. Similar ghost setups were discovered in Golapangri, Belora, Sindkhed Raja, and Latur.
The report slammed the administration on several operational and policy fronts. Out of the allocated Rs 487 crore for government hostels in the fiscal year 2023-24, a total of Rs 56.65 crore was left completely unutilized. Due to a lack of follow-through on the policy to establish a hostel in every taluka, nearly 8,930 students across 117 talukas remain entirely deprived of hostel facilities.
Nearly 49 government hostels are running without superintendents. Shockingly, in five girls’ hostels located in Vashi, Ambad, Kuhi (Nagpur), Khamgaon, and Ahmedpur, male superintendents were found to be appointed, the report noted.
According to the central auditor, the state government’s long-term plan to construct 500 government hostels by the year 2020 has fallen flat. By 2020, only 443 had been established. The CAG noted that despite funds being sanctioned, severe delays in construction have ensured that the government’s welfare vision remains confined entirely to paper.
(IANS)
