Kolkata: State Education Minister Bratya Basu on Monday night hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for “peddling lies” over reports claiming that West Bengal tops the list of states with the highest number of schools having zero enrolment.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Basu wrote, “BJP—the eternal liar!” He added: “In the last decade and a half, more than a thousand new and upgraded schools have been established in our state, covering the remotest corners of Bengal.” Quoting Mark Twain, he remarked: “Figures don’t lie, but liars do figure! Let us now dispel the myths and separate figures from lies.”
The minister’s comments came in response to the latest UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) 2024–25 report, published in late August, which revealed that a total of 7,993 schools across India had zero enrolments. West Bengal reportedly accounted for 3,812 such schools—employing around 17,965 teachers—the highest among all states. Telangana followed with 2,245 schools with 1,016 teachers, and Madhya Pradesh with 463 schools with 223 teachers.
Dismissing the interpretation of the report, Basu said the figures were being “misrepresented.” He pointed out that UDISE codes are assigned to both private and government schools, and therefore, the state government cannot be held accountable for all institutions showing zero enrolment.
He further clarified that zero enrolment in a single academic year does not necessarily mean that there will be no students in the school in the future. “Keeping this in mind, the Government of West Bengal is averse to closing schools and incapacitating the local population,” he said.
Basu added that teachers posted in such schools are locally reassigned to nearby institutions with higher student strength. “This is done through local orders rather than formal departmental notifications to continue supporting schools that are adversely affected enrolment-wise,” he explained.
Highlighting the state’s educational achievements, Basu cited flagship welfare schemes such as Kanyashree, Aikyashree, Sabuj Sathi, and the Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship (SVMCM). “These and many other scholarships and schemes have brought the net primary dropout rate to zero. In the last academic year alone, around 5.5 lakh students benefitted from SVMCM,” he stated.
Taking a swipe at BJP-ruled states, Basu remarked: “Hold a mirror to the so-called double-engine states.” He added: “The salaries of all teachers in government and government-aided schools in Bengal are directly credited to their bank accounts—so there is no question of proliferation like in some double-engine states.”