Tamil Nadu: Primary, middle schools in 2,338 panchayats to get a facelift for Rs 60 cr

CHENNAI: Under the School Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (SIUS), primary and middle schools in 2,338 village panchayats are set to undergo repair and renovations at the cost of Rs 60 crore across Tamil Nadu.

The funds have been allotted for the 2025-26 academic year to ascertain, renovate and repair all the primary and middle schools in the respective village and town panchayats of the state.

As per the notification from the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, it’s the responsibility of the respective panchayat unions to ensure maintenance of infrastructure facilities in primary and middle schools located in rural areas. So, the department has rolled out SIUS to facilitate schools in a phased manner and all panchayat union schools identified under the Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (AGAMT) 2025-26 should be covered under SIUS 2025-26.

Before taking the renovation work, the department has directed all panchayat unions to procure a structural stability certificate by the assistant executive engineer. The renovation work should be carried out in the schools that had not undergone any work in the last five years.

Additionally, while ascertaining the damages under AGAMT in all the panchayat union schools, infrastructural damages in classrooms, kitchen shed, toilets and water supply should be taken into account. According to the department notification, classrooms/schools will undergo renovation of RCC ceiling, cracks in building walls, doors and windows and damaged flooring with anti-skid stones.

In case of issues with electrical fittings, wiring and electrical provision has been directed to be taken up in future upgradation with smart classroom facility. For water supply facility (toilets), and also kitchen sheds and buildings, renovation will be permitted only if repair works have not been carried out in the last three years.

For safety reasons and longevity, the department has ordered the installation of syntax tanks instead of cement or concrete tanks. Panchayats have been instructed to set up rainwater harvesting structure wherever necessary.

For the selection and finalisation of works, a committee composed of block development officer, assistant engineer, block education officer, school principal and village panchayat president has been listed. To verify the repair works, district collector, additional corrector/project director of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and executive engineer/assistant executive engineer of Revenue department have been instructed by the government.