The BJP-led Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) standing committee on Tuesday approved a proposal to transfer select municipal schools to a private organization and provide funding for their operation, despite strong opposition from other political parties.
Proposal Details
The initial proposal involved handing over five PMC-run English-medium schools to a private entity on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis for nine years. The private organization would receive Rs25,000 per student annually from PMC, totaling Rs11.25 crore per year for an estimated 4,500 students, amounting to Rs101.25 crore over nine years.
However, standing committee chairman Shrinath Bhimale clarified that a supplementary application was attached, and the updated proposal approved this week reduces the tenure to three years at an estimated total cost of Rs33.75 crore.
Bhimale added, "The administration has also opened other civic schools to more private agencies. They too can take civic schools for management by following the due tendering process."
Political Opposition
Last week, the standing committee had deferred the proposal after objections. On Tuesday, opposition parties including Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) continued to protest. The proposal was finally approved through voting, with 12 BJP members in favor and four Congress and NCP members opposing it.
Congress city unit chief Prashant Jagtap said, "Even as opposition parties are already objecting to handing over even nine schools to a private entity, the ruling party tabled an even more shocking proposal to hand over additional schools to private organizations."
NCP corporator Suhas Tingre stated, "Our party has vehemently opposed this proposal. It will lead to privatization of education and have an adverse impact on the municipal academic system."
Other Decisions
During the meeting, a link road was approved between Wadgaon Budruk and Karvenagar to address traffic congestion in Wadgaon Budruk, Sun City, and Karvenagar areas. The road will be developed near survey no. 31 (Indian Hume Pipe Company) in Peth Wadgaon Budruk to the river bridge in Karvenagar via Wadgaon Budruk survey no. 11 (Sun City Road). Additionally, a 30-meter-wide road between survey no. 31 and survey nos. 23 and 24 (Prayeja City) was proposed.
PMC also decided to establish an independent corporate social responsibility (CSR) cell to coordinate funds from CSR for various projects. The cell will maintain records of available CSR funding, expenditures, and balances, and will review funds from penalties for environmental violations and other regulatory breaches.
Furthermore, PMC plans to form a 14-member cultural committee to draft a comprehensive cultural policy for Pune. The committee will include cultural experts, theatre bodies, artists, litterateurs, historians, folk art representatives, urban planning experts, and administrative officials. It will create a long-term blueprint for developing theatres, art galleries, heritage sites, and new cultural infrastructure.
