Seeking to boost infrastructure at its schools, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has ordered 37,484 chairs and 6,246 desks, a senior official said on Thursday. Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Thursday inspected the new desks put up at Nigam Pratibha Vidyalaya Saraswati Vihar in the Keshavpuram Zone of the MCD.
She said desk and chair facilities will be made available in all MCD-run schools. This is the "first time" that there will be desks and chairs for nursery children, she was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the mayor's office. A total of 37,484 chairs and 6,246 desks have been ordered for 800 schools of the MCD, it said.
During her visit, she faced protests from a group of Delhi BJP councillors and workers from Keshavpuram Zone, which was led by Virender Goel. Local councillor from the BJP, Shikha Bhardwaj, protested before the mayor and alleged that she was "not invited" to be part of the visit. The Delhi BJP, in a statement, also alleged that the mayor was "trying to mislead people" by saying that for the first time, desks are being provided to nursery students of the school, even though this school is "one of the best MCD-run school with an auditorium facility".
Oberoi's office in the statement also said that orders for 287 cupboards and 287 racks have been issued. These will be installed in schools in a phased manner. This work will be completed by October. After this, children will not have to "sit on floors" at MCD schools, it said. Even after running the government in MCD for 15 years, the BJP "could not even provide tables and chairs to children in all schools, " the statement claimed.