Banswara/Jaipur – In Rajasthan's tribal-dominated Banswara district, parents and teachers are up in arms over what they term "blatant discrimination" in budget allocations for repairing dilapidated government schools, with only a fraction of crumbling structures included in the state's repair list. As heavy rains lash the region, forcing school closures, the crisis highlights systemic neglect in Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) areas, where early education centers like Anganwadis and Ma Badis remain uninspected and in ruins.

The outrage centers on the education department's approval of repairs for just 1,936 schools statewide following the tragic July 25 roof collapse at a Jhalawar school that killed seven children and injured over 20. For Banswara, only 57 schools were earmarked for fixes with a meager ₹2.70 crore allocation out of the total ₹169.52 crore budget, yet, even this funding remains unreleased a month later, leaving students to study in fear. In Ghatol sub-division, a hotspot of tribal neglect, merely three schools made the cut, ignoring dozens of others in "khasta haal" (ruinous) conditions.

"Most dilapidated, ruin-like buildings in our tribal region have been overlooked," said an anonymous school principal in Ghatol, highlighting the department's demand for safety certificates from untrained teachers while officials evade responsibility. Teachers' union leader Siyaram Sharma accused a "nexus" of officials, technical experts, and contractors for certifying shoddy constructions 25-30 years ago, now demanding repairs be funded by recovering costs from those contractors to expose corruption.

Specific incidents paint a grim picture: At Jherpara Primary School, a veranda recently collapsed, leaving staff on edge. In Sajjangarh, the Sadlain Anganwadi center is in dire straits, while the PM Shri School in Khandu Colony's chemistry lab poses hazards. Surveys, teachers claim, exclude Anganwadis and Ma Badis,critical for tribal toddlers, despite many being structurally unsafe. Parents in Amarthun village protested last week after a school boundary wall caved in at night, demanding repairs for eight dilapidated classrooms, verandas, and walls, alongside filling teacher vacancies.

With monsoon rains resuming, 20 mm recorded in urban areas on Sunday, schools in Banswara, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh, Alwar, Nagaur, Sirohi, Pratapgarh, and Salumber were shuttered today. Rented buildings like Rajkiya Uchcha Prathamik Vidyalaya in Odichywada and Bhavsarwada still await new premises. "Parents are wary of sending kids; enrollment is plummeting," noted a local educator, as principals conduct daily inspections and prepare on-site reports amid student holidays providing temporary safety.

Statewide, a survey of 63,000 schools revealed 86,934 classrooms completely dilapidated and 5,667 entire buildings unsafe, with 17,109 toilets in poor condition. Tribal areas like Banswara bear the brunt, with 31% of schools showing structural cracks per a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) report.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court has stepped in decisively. On August 22, a division bench of Justices Mahendar Kumar Goyal and Ashok Kumar Jain restrained the government from using any dilapidated school buildings or rooms until alternatives are arranged, ensuring studies continue uninterrupted. The order, part of suo motu petitions on child safety, follows the Jhalawar incident and mandates compliance reports.