SC judge's question on Nashik Kumbh's ₹34,000 crore: "If only 0.1% was spent on education, 125 Marathi schools would have been saved! "

Mumbai: Justice Prasanna B Varale of the Supreme Court has made a very serious comment about the declining education budget and the closing of Marathi medium schools in Maharashtra. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of 'Smart Classes' at a high school in Dhule, he raised the big question between the proposed budget of thousands of crores of rupees for the Nashik-Triambakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela and the state of school education in the state.

Justice Varale said that while Rs 32,000-34,000 crore is being allocated for the Nashik Kumbh, if only 0.1 per cent of this amount, about Rs 32-34 crore, is spent on education, then 100-125 closed Marathi medium schools in Maharashtra could have been saved.

He made it clear that he had no objection to government spending on development projects or big events. The question is about their priorities. "When the government can spend thousands of crores of rupees on mega projects and corridors, why are not enough resources being made available for basic education and government schools?

"Instead of increasing, the budget for education is decreasing.

Justice Varale also expressed concern over the shortfall in the education budget in Maharashtra. He said that the number of students is increasing, but despite this, the budget allocated for education is constantly not reaching the expected level. For many years, it has not even reached 13 per cent of the total state budget

He said government schools are not just buildings, but they are the foundation of the future of millions of children whose families cannot afford expensive private education.

Judge narrates his experience

Justice Varale also linked the importance of education in the regional language to his personal experience. He has studied up to Class 10 in Marathi medium schools of municipal and zilla parishads.

He said that studying in Marathi medium did not hamper his career. On the contrary, education in the regional language helped broaden their thinking.

The incident at the Ashram school

Expressing concern over the lack of basic facilities in schools in rural and tribal areas, Justice Varale also referred to the traumatic incident of an ashram school. He said that three girl students died due to snakebite while they were sleeping on the floor due to lack of adequate facilities.

Citing this example, he questioned that if even basic safety and facilities are not being ensured for children in schools, then what is the real meaning of development?

The question of costs between the Kumbh, corridors and schools

Justice Varale also referred to the huge public expenditure on the Nashik-Triambakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh as well as the corridor and other major development projects. He informed that about Rs 11,000 crore is also being allocated for corridor projects.

He said the government should do development work and spend on big events, but at the same time, it is important to ensure that basic sectors like education are not left behind.

The gist of his remarks was that even if only 0.1 per cent of the projects worth thousands of crores of rupees are released for government schools, a big step can be taken to save at least 100-125 Marathi medium schools from closure, if not hundreds.

Justice Varale's remarks are likely to trigger a major debate on development priorities in Maharashtra, education in regional language and status of government schools.