Pune VIDEO: Students Made To Clean School Premises Amid Staff Shortage At PMC-Run Kothrud School

A video has been going viral on social media where students of Meenatai Thackeray Vidya Niketan School No. 8, a Pune Municipal Corporation-run school in Kothrud, are being made to clean the school premises, allegedly in the absence of sanitation workers, which is questioned by some people about whether the students are sent to study or to clean the school.

“This issue has raised a significant question: are parents sending their children to school to receive an education or to clean the school grounds? The school education department is neglecting Pune Municipal Corporation-run schools, and due to a shortage of staff, students are being forced to clean the school instead of receiving an education,” a Kothrud-based resident said.

“This situation is causing immense harm to the students, and the Pune Municipal Corporation Commissioner must take immediate action,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the counting of the Pune municipal corporation and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation election results is underway. The question of who will govern Pune and PCMC's municipal corporation will be clear by this Friday afternoon. The counting of votes has begun at 10 AM, and the first result is expected to be announced between 11 and 11:30 AM. The counting of votes across the city is likely to be completed by 3 to 3:30 PM.

Immediately after the voting ended, all the machines were sealed and moved to the strongroom at the counting centre. Strict security arrangements have been made at this location, and CCTV cameras have also been installed. The fate of the candidates, sealed inside the EVMs, will be revealed this morning, Friday.

For the Pune municipal corporation elections, 165 members will be elected from 41 wards. Of these, 40 wards are four-member constituencies, and one ward is a five-member constituency. Fifteen election officers have been appointed for this election, one for each regional office.

Accordingly, the municipal corporation has announced the details of the vote counting. After ensuring that the voting machines are sealed in the presence of party representatives, the further process will begin. First, the postal ballots have been counted. After that, the counting of votes from the EVMs is underway.

12 Rounds of Counting in Kasba and Kondhwa

Under the Kondhwa-Yewalewadi regional office, which includes only two wards, Ward No. 39 (Upper Super Indiranagar) and Ward No. 40 (Kondhwa Budruk-Yewalewadi), will have the highest number of rounds of counting, with 12 rounds each. 

The Bibwewadi regional office (Ward Nos. 20, 21, 26) and the Kasba-Vishrambaugwada regional office (Ward Nos. 25, 27, 28), as well as the Kondhwa-Yewalewadi regional office, will also have the fewest rounds of counting, with 12 rounds each. 

Therefore, the counting in these wards is likely to be completed quickly, and the results for these wards are expected to be declared early. Since candidates for two seats in Ward No. 35 have been elected unopposed, the result for Ward 35 is likely to be declared the earliest.