NEW DELHI: With an aim to improve hygiene and cleanliness in city government schools, the Delhi government has expanded its private sanitation services to cover 621 more schools, in addition to the 117 already benefiting from the initiative.
The move is aimed at ensuring higher sanitation standards and creating a healthier learning environment for students across the capital. According to officials, the expanded sanitation contract will be regularly monitored through inspections by departmental officers.
The inspections will ensure that the cleanliness benchmarks are maintained consistently across all schools. For institutions not covered under the private sanitation system, the government has deployed three to four regular sweepers per school, depending on student enrollment, to manage cleanliness effectively.
Heads of schools have been instructed to ensure that cleaning work is completed at least 30 minutes before classes begin. The frequency of cleaning operations will vary according to the size of the school from twice daily for smaller institutions to as many as eight times a day for schools with over 1,500 students.
One of the government school principals said, “To maintain accountability, school heads have been asked to keep attendance records of private sweepers and ensure that only female workers are assigned to clean girls’ toilets. In cases of negligence or non-deployment of staff, heads have been authorised to hire alternative cleaning services by spending up to Rs 2,000, which will be deducted from the contractor’s payment.”
Effort to ensure safe campuses
Education dept officials said comprehensive sanitation framework is part of the government’s commitment to provide safe campuses