Mumbai, Aug 6: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Centre, highlighting a NITI Aayog report that lays bare the critical state of India’s school infrastructure.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, the party said, “The editorial noted that as Gen Z youth take to the streets to protest against systemic failures in education, frequent paper leaks, and rising unemployment, the government’s own think tank has exposed severe structural deficiencies. While the paper-leak scams commercialising the education sector had already brought shame upon the BJP-led government at the Centre, the NITI Aayog report has now forced the government to hide its face in embarrassment.”

Despite steady population growth, the NITI Aayog report revealed that approximately 1,00,000 schools have shut down nationwide, while student dropout rates prior to Class 12 have reached a staggering 40 per cent. Statistics indicated that out of every ten primary school enrollees, nearly four drop out before completing higher secondary education, said the editorial.

The editorial highlighted that over the past eight to nine years, around 92,000 schools have closed. Although official channels attribute part of this reduction to school consolidation due to low enrollment, overall school count dropped by nearly 1,00,000 despite a growing population. More than 1,00,000 primary schools nationwide function with only a single teacher responsible for handling all subjects across Classes 1 through 4. Conversely, 7,993 schools currently report zero enrolled students despite maintaining active staff. Out of 24.69 crore students enrolled across 14.71 lakh schools, primary school enrollment stands at 90.9 per cent but sharply plummets to 58.4 per cent by the higher secondary level (Class 12).

The editorial argued that widespread discontent — demonstrated during recent youth protests at Jantar Mantar over paper leaks and exam corruption — has severely undermined claims of global educational leadership (“Vishwaguru”).

Identifying poverty and escalation in educational expenses as the main drivers of the high dropout rate, the Thackeray camp noted that higher secondary education costs three to five times more than primary schooling. Burdened by rising tuition fees, exam fees, and travel costs, many families are forced to pull children out of school early, while the Central Education Ministry remains passive.

Questioning the efficacy of existing policy protections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena asked, “If the students of this country are destined for such distress, what good is the Right to Education Act – should it be thrown into the fire?”

Mumbai: The police have claimed to have arrested a fugitive accused who was wanted for 9 years in a murder case. He was arrested during a search in Goa and Karnataka. In 2017, a tea vendor’s brother, Vizagullah Mohsin, was called by his acquaintance and then in a Bhangarh area under the MIDC limits, Sahib Rao said that he had informed the police. After that, Sahib Rao along with Feroz, Sabir Ali and others surrounded Vizagullah and his relative and then attacked Vizagullah with a pipe from Lokhand, which led to his death. The police had already arrested 6 accused in this murder case. In this, the wanted accused Mehtab Alam Azmatullah was the absconding accused and he was later declared a declared accused. After that, the police received information about the absconding accused that he was hiding his identity and working as a Scorpio in Karnataka. On this basis, the police confirmed it from his relatives and his social media accounts and then laid a trap and arrested him from Karnataka. This action has been taken by Senior Inspector Ghanshyam Nair of DCP Dutta Nalode MIDC on the behest of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti.

Regarding the tender for the Mumbai Mayor’s bungalow, Mayor Ritu Tawde has expressed her ignorance about the tender. The Mayor’s bungalow is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India and the tender that has been called is not related to the bungalow and the Mayor is also unaware of it. Various media outlets have reported that a new tender has been floated for the services and amenities related to the residence of the Mumbai Mayor. The explanation of this matter is given below.

The residence of the Mayor of Mumbai is located in the premises of the Virmata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo. The maintenance, repair and upkeep of the entire garden and zoo premises is done by the concerned Garden and Zoo Department.

The Mayor’s residence is a heritage structure, and the work related to it is done by the Heritage Maintenance Department. It has been clearly stated that this tender was not floated by the Maintenance Department.

Therefore, it is clarified that the tender in question and the works described therein relate to the surrounding areas and the zoo premises as a whole, and not to the Mayor’s residence itself. The Mayor has no knowledge of this tender nor does the Mayor have any reason to be aware of it. Furthermore, the Mayor did not request these works. It is specifically noted that the proposed works are not located within the Mayor’s bungalow. The Department and officers who handled the entire tender process have full knowledge of the need for these works and the relevant administrative procedures. Consequently, it is requested not to attempt to link the Mayor with this tender process or the work involved.