Pune: The BJP-led PMC standing committee on Tuesday approved a proposal to hand over select municipal schools to a private organisation and fund it to run them, despite opposition from other political parties.The main proposal stated that five Pune Municipal Corporation-run (PMC) English-medium schools will be run for the next nine years on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The private organisation will receive Rs25,000 per student per year from PMC for this project. Based on an estimated 4,500 students, this annual expenditure amounts to Rs11.25 crore per year, taking it to a total of around Rs101.25 crore for nine years.However, standing committee chairman Shrinath Bhimale said a supplementary application was attached to the main proposal, and the updated proposal was approved this week. Now, the schools will be handed over for operating only for the next three years, at an estimated cost of Rs33.75 in total.He 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.”Last week, the standing committee had deferred the same proposal after objections during the meeting. On Tuesday as well, opposition parties including Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) continued to protest. However, the proposal was finally approved after voting, as 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members were in favour of the project, and only four Congress and NCP members were 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 organisations.”Similarly, NCP corporator Suhas Tingre said, “Our party has vehemently opposed this proposal. It will lead to privatisation of education and have an adverse impact on the municipal academic system.”In other decisions taken during the meeting, a link road was approved between Wadgaon Budruk and Karvenagar to resolve the growing traffic congestion problem in the Wadgaon Budruk, Sun City, and Karvenagar areas. This road will be developed near survey no. 31 (Indian Hume Pipe Company) in Peth Wadgaon Budruk till the river bridge in Karvenagar via Wadgaon Budruk survey no. 11 (Sun City Road). Additionally, the resolution called for the development of a proposed 30-metre-wide road between survey no. 31 and survey nos. 23 and 24 (Prayeja City).Besides this, an independent corporate social responsibility (CSR) cell will now be established within PMC to help the civic body coordinate funds from this avenue for various projects and activities. The cell will maintain detailed records of available CSR funding, how much has been spent, and the remaining balance. It will also review funds collected from penalties imposed for environmental violations and other regulatory breaches.PMC also plans to formulate a cultural committee to draft a comprehensive cultural policy for Pune. The 14-member committee will comprise cultural experts, theatre bodies, artists, litterateurs, historians, folk art representatives, urban planning experts, and administrative officials. A long-term blueprint will be created to develop the city’s theatres, art galleries, heritage sites, and new cultural infrastructure under this panel.
