As a part of Mana Ooru Mana Badi scheme, the education department will give a facelift to 9,123 government schools in the first phase of the scheme. The State Government has allocated Rs 3497.62 crore for this purpose. This was announced by Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy on Monday, May 2, during a video conference with the collectors of all 33 districts in the state. Finance Minister T Harish Rao also participated in the virtual conference.

The Education Department has also decided to constitute school management committees to look after the upgradation work of their respective schools. Explaining the process further, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar said that committees will be given authority to undertake works up to Rs 30 lakh. For works that exceed the expenditure of Rs 30 lakh, they need float tenders by May 15.

During the meeting, Finance Minister Harish Rao assured that there was no shortage of funds and the plan to uplift the government schools at par with corporate school’s infrastructure is the priority. He also asked the schools to take pictures of facilities before and after the upgradation works in order to effectively convey how the schools have improved. Among many other initiatives, the Education Department has asked for a special officer to be appointed in each zone to oversee the works and ensure that they are completed within the stipulated time.