KCR orders merger of 14 sections of Education Dept

Hyderabad, Feb 23 (INN): Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday directed the officials to reduce the number of sections in Education Department so as to improve the quality of education.

Addressing a review meeting in connection with preparation of budget proposals for the Education Department, the Chief Minister said there were 14 different sections under Education Department. He said those departments were not essential as they do not have required staff. Citing an instance, he said the Libraries and Archives Sections had nothing with the Education Department. Therefore, they could be merged with Cultural Department. Similarly, other sections which are not directly connected with education could be merged with other relevant departments or scrapped.

KCR said despite spending nearly Rs. 20,000 crore on education sector, the quality of education in government institutions was not up to the mark. He said immediate steps should be taken to improve the standard of education in all government institutions. He said students belonging to SC, ST, BC, minorities and other economically weaker sections study in government schools and colleges. Therefore, he said the quality of education must be improved in government institutions to ensure growth of future generations.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to convert all SC, ST and BC Welfare hostels into residential schools in a phase manner. He asked them to prepare a detailed proposal in this regard. He also proposed merger of all language academies under one-roof. Similarly, the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), presently being run by Labour Department, will be transferred to Technical Education Department.

KCR said it was not compulsory for the Telangana Government to continue all the schemes which it inherited from united Andhra Pradesh. He said that the officials should focus on implementation of schemes introduced by the Telangana Government. He also ordered scrapping of Printing Department.

The Chief Minister asked officials to prepare a detailed report on the functioning, staff, infrastructure and other relevant information of all educational institutions in the State. He said instead of constructing new buildings, the existing buildings could be upgraded by providing needed infrastructure and facilities. He said that the Central Government was not releasing adequate funds for the institutions which it is running in the State. He said that the State Government would try to compensate deficiency in funding of those institutions.

The review meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari, Finance Minister Etala Rajender, Advisor to Government G.R. Reddy, Chief Secretary Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Principal Secretary of Education Department Rajiv Ranjan and other senior officials.