Mukesh Goel alleges corruption in procurement of shoes for school students

Leader of Opposition in North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Mukesh Goel on Friday alleged corruption in procurement of 4 lakh pairs of shoes for students of MCD schools demanding an independent inquiry in the procurement process. 

Denying the allegation, Education Committee Chairperson Mamta Nagpal termed it baseless. She claimed that the fact is that the Corporation has taken lots of steps to improve quality of education in its schools and have produced results at the ground level.

Goel said that fresh example of corruption is in the procurement of shoes for school students. He said that Corporation procured shoes at the rate of Rs 85 and Rs 95 for boys and Rs 83 & Rs 93 for girls. 

The average cost of shoes for boys and girls is Rs 90. He said that the Corporation distributes shoes to students once in a year but the shoes supplied by the concerned company are of such poor quality that they may not even last for a month. He has also written a letter to Lieutenant Governor about the corruption in shoe procurement. 

“If we compare with other shoes available in the market, we can see the difference in shoes supplied to the Corporation and shoes available in open market which are of better quality and quite cheaper,” added Goel.

Refuting the allegation made by the Opposition, Education Committee Chairman said that there is no corruption in shoe procurement and the department is ready for inquiry. She said that efforts are being made to defame the ruling party in view of next MCD elections which is scheduled next year.

“There is no corruption at all in the department and even lots of steps have been taken aiming to transform MCD schools into centres of quality education. After taking charge as the Education Committee Chairman, she herself has started surprise visits of North MCD schools and has covered 16 schools in 7 assembly constituencies so far. These include Patel Nagar (four schools), Adarsh Nagar (three schools), Burari(two schools), Karol Bagh (one school), Shalimar Bagh (four schools), Timarpur (one school) and Model Town (one school). It has helped in improving the systems as well as taking actions against those teachers and other staff who are responsible for dereliction,” she added.