Toeing the lines of their Thane counterparts, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has decided to adopt the rent-out-model while leasing vacant plots which have been tagged for education purposes in the twin-cities to private players interested in setting up educational institutes.
The policy was formulated by MBMC Commissioner Dilip Dhole in his capacity as administrator after a meeting with the assistant director of town planning Hemant Thakur, city engineer Deepak Khambit and other senior administrative officers.
While the revised policy will ensure a better inflow of revenue for the MBMC treasury, there is no clarity on the reserved admission quota for students referred by the education department in these privately developed schools under the new rent-out model. Notably, earlier attempts and resolutions by the general body house to lease out the acquired school-tagged plots had failed to materialise after courting controversies related to favouritism. However, this time the civic administration is treading cautiously by proposing the rent-out model only on those plots which are not under consideration for setting up municipal schools.
At present, there are 36 municipal schools that impart education in Marathi, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati and semi-English modes to around 8,500 students who mostly come from poor economic backgrounds.
The rent-out model
As per the policy, those plots wherein 50% of the total area or more than 2,000sq m has already been acquired and the MBMC's education department does not need them to construct schools will be rented out at existing market rates, allowing private players to develop their own institutes for a tenure of 30 years. As per the town planning department, there are 10 such plots out of which six are reserved for primary schools and playgrounds while the remaining four are tagged with reservations for secondary schools and playgrounds. The civic administration will soon float e-tenders or conduct online auctions for the bidding process. The selected institutions will then develop the infrastructure on the land parcel.
