As of March 2024, the state has 443 government-run and 2,388 government-aided hostels. Overall, these facilities cater to 1,21,971 boys and 40,543 girls.
Image: IANS
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed major mismanagement, financial misappropriation as well as lack of basic amenities across government-run and aided student hostels in Maharashtra.
The comprehensive physical inspection and audit was conducted over the past two years, IANS reported.
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These facilities have been designed to support the education of children from backward and economically weaker sections. However, many of them have been found to be in a state of utter neglect, with some aided hostels turning out to be completely fake.
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As of March 2024, the state has 443 government-run and 2,388 government-aided hostels. Overall, these facilities cater to 1,21,971 boys and 40,543 girls.
The CAG has carried out direct physical inspection of 18 government and 21 aided hostels, along with the audit covering the period from 2022 to 2024.
In its report, the CAG highlights that the ground reality painted a grim picture, despite Maharashtra spending a staggering ₹2,321 crore on these hostels during the audited period.
The CAG report was submitted to the state legislature on the conclusion of the three-week monsoon session on July 10. It highlights lack of essential infrastructure, such as dining halls, computer labs, libraries, daily newspapers, TVs, CCTV networks and power inverters.
Also, it has pointed out that regular medical check-ups for students remained virtually non-existent at these facilities.
At four of the hostels, students were made to sit on the floor to eat, since there was lack of dining tables and chairs, while a few facilities lacked a dedicated dining space altogether.
Many of these facilities were found to be openly flouting safety and accessibility guidelines.
As per the rules and regulations, it is mandatory to provide ground-floor accommodation for differently-abled students. However, facilities in Moshi, Ahmednagar, Dharashiv, Jat, Jalna, and Manish Nagar (Nagpur) assigned them rooms on upper floors without basic accessibility infrastructure.
Furthermore, only 46 out of 280 government hostels equipped with biometric attendance systems were found to be operational.
Among the 21 aided hostels inspected, six were found to be either permanently locked or still under construction. Shockingly, there was no staff or students present.
Calling them as “fake hostels,” the CAG revealed that the Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance disbursed ₹1.62 crore to these non-functional entities over four years, pointing to a blatant misappropriation of public funds.
In total, about 49 government hostels were found to be running without superintendents, while at five girls’ hostels located in Vashi, Ambad, Kuhi (Nagpur), Khamgaon, and Ahmedpur, male superintendents were found to be appointed, the report highlights.
According to CAG, Maharashtra’s long-term plan to construct 500 government hostels by 2020 has fallen flat. By 2020, only 443 had been established.
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