The Tamil Nadu government has decided to bring all schools functioning under various departments such as Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare; BC, MBC & Minorities Welfare Department; HR&CE Department;, and the Forest Department under the purview of the School Education Department.
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan announced this during his budget speech presented in the Assembly on Monday.
The move he said, is aimed at achieving “social justice in the field of education” and improving the quality of schools functioning under various departments.
The decision to bring Adi Dravidar Welfare Schools under the School Education Department was made following requests to the government to operate and maintain these schools through the department. The government has also allocated a significant amount of funds towards the modernization and upgrade of the physical infrastructure of government schools under the Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme. In the upcoming financial year, the government will construct classrooms, laboratories, and toilets at a cost of ₹1,500 crores.
It is to be noted that while schools of Adi Dravidar Welfare and other departments are funded through budgetary allocations of the government, schools which the DMK government claims to be “run by HR&CE department” are actually schools run by Hindu Temples with temple funds in temple properties. It is feared that these schools will be taken over by the HR&CE department.
With the announcement made by Palanivel Thiagarajan, temple activists also fear that temple funds will be diverted for secular purposes.
Schools run by Hindu Temples with temple funds in temple properties declared as run by @tnhrcedept in the Tamil Nadu Budget. #FRAUD Presence of Executive Officers in temples without legal orders, diversion of temple funds for govt purposes, govt servants as Tustees, all #Frauds pic.twitter.com/m2AUlDpn5Q
— trramesh (@trramesh) March 21, 2023
Last week, there was a report on funds missing from Samayapuram Mariamman Temple. The presence of Executive Officers in temples without legal orders, diversion of temple funds for government purposes, and government servants as trustees are among the fraudulent activities noted.
This move by the DMK government to bring “schools of HR&CE department” under the School Education Department in the name of allocating funds for “better” infrastructure and “social justice” has raised concerns.
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