Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The CAG has objected to the state’s failure to carry out the master plan in Bhopal. In its report, the CAG has given a strong opinion against the Town and Country Planning (T&CP) department over the Master Plan.
According to the report, the reasons for not issuing the draft plan and sending it back were ambiguous and arbitrary.
In case the government does not carry out the master plan, its committee takes decisions on its own, which are generally risky for the development of a city, the CAG report said.
According to the report, the Bhopal Master Plan has been given approval twice since 1975. The Master Plan, implemented in 2005, is still in vogue in Bhopal.
There is a 77% rise in population in 2011 in comparison to 1991, and the number of unauthorised colonies has increased by 175% in 2021 in comparison to 2000.
T&CP does not have any information about encroachments and land demarcation.
It lacks a model or a plan to deal with the rising population, unplanned development, and unauthorised colonies.
The return of the draft master plan in February 2024 after three years was wrong, the CAG report said.
The draft master plan was returned in 2009, 2020, and 2024 after its publication.
In its report, CAG advised the government to carry out the master plan as soon as possible, which should be according to the population and financial growth.
Higher secondary schools lack 45% teachers, high schools run short of 40%
The state schools are facing an acute shortage of teachers. It came to light in the CAG report relating to the School Education Department up to March 2023.
In proportion to the number of approved posts, there is a 45% shortage of teachers in higher secondary schools, 40% in high schools, 33% in middle schools and 10% in primary schools.
There is an acute shortage of teachers in the schools in rural areas, while the schools in cities have surplus teachers.
According to the data available in 6,607 schools in cities, there are 47,396 teachers against the approved posts of 35,663 teachers.
On the other hand, in 29,116 schools in villages, there are 1,13,734 teachers against 2,13,416 approved posts.
Among the cities, Gwalior has 113%, Betul 111%, and Bhopal 108% more teachers against the number of approved posts.
According to the report, 435 schools had no students up to August 2023. There were 1895 schools, where the names of the students were registered, but there were no teachers.
According to the CAG report, in February 2025, the government said the schools with zero registration of students would be merged.
The School Education Department also claimed that it had arranged temporary teachers for the schools, which lacked teachers.
Data collection, land acquisition objected
The CAG also objected to the government’s failure to gather proper data in preparing the master plans for Jabalpur, Gwalior, and Indore. According to the CAG report, data should be accurate for preparing a plan. In the same way, the CAG also objected to the land acquisition under the Indore Master Plan. According to the CAG report, land was acquired for the Bhangarh village railway station. But there was no proposal for constructing a station
