Intended to fleece schools?

The Karnataka government’s direction to private school managements to obtain a ‘building structural stability certificate’ by paying 0.5% of the building valuation as fees is whimsical, discriminatory and appears to be aimed at fleecing these institutions at a time when they are already facing financial distress due to Covid-related lockdowns.

This rule strangely does not apply to government schools many of which are in a dilapidated condition and on the verge of collapse, putting the lives of thousands of children at risk. Surely, the lives of the children of the poor going to government schools are as precious as the lives of children from well-to-do families attending private schools? A recent survey of government schools conducted by the Department of Public Instruction had revealed that at least 52% of them needed improvement.

On a scale of A to D, 16,783 schools made it to A grade, 25,686 to B, 4,879 to C and 1,961 to D. The survey also revealed that over 55% of schools did not have adequate toilet facilities. Some time ago, the Karnataka High Court too had directed the government to depute senior officers to visit State-run schools and submit a detailed report.

This being the case, it is illogical that the government should target private institutions alone. Nor is there any rationale for fixing 0.5% of building value as the fee for the certificate as this itself could run to several lakhs of rupees, especially in the case of schools located in prime areas where the valuations are high. Private school managements point out that the fee could range from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh or more and that they would have to pass on the burden to parents. It is also strange that stability certificates will have to be obtained even for new buildings for which occupancy certificates would have been issued recently, presumably after verifying the fitness of the structure and adherence to the sanctioned plan.

Instead of ensuring that building bylaws are not violated at the time of construction and by failing to prosecute officers who permit illegal structures to come up, the government usually comes out with such arbitrary measures, many of them influenced by ulterior motives. The government should make the bylaws compliant with the National Building Code, 2016, which among other things mandates that buildings older than 25 years should be assessed for safety every five years. The government should either rescind or suitably modify the instant order and make it applicable first to its own schools. Safety, like charity, should begin at home.

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