The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has replaced over 12,000 blackboards with whiteboards at a cost of approximately Rs 41.5 crore, a civic body official said. This comes as part of the efforts to develop modern infrastructure in MCD-run schools across 12 zones, they said. The schools have also been provided with around 25,700 magnetic whiteboard erasers and dusters, as well as over one lakh water-based whiteboard markers, the official said. The civic body floated a tender to install the whiteboards in the schools, along with providing markers and magnetic dusters, last year. The installation of the whiteboards was completed in June this year, an official said.
A cost of approximately Rs 41.5 crore was incurred for the purchase of the items and their installation by the bidder, according to official data. As per the data, the MCD has installed a total of 1,925 whiteboards in its schools in the South Delhi zone, 1,540 in the Rohini zone, 468 in the City-SP zone, 1,484 in the West Delhi zone, 1,056 in Central Delhi zone, and 994 in Keshavpuram zone.
In the MCD schools in the Shahdara North zone, 194 whiteboards have been installed, 190 in the Shahdara South zone, 1,349 in Nazafgarh zone, 1,305 in Civil Lines, 587 in Karol Bagh zone, and 1,788 in Narela zone.
Earlier, MCD schools in many areas were either equipped with blackboards or chalkboards or had cemented boards. Text written on such boards was difficult to wipe off and produced chalk dust. The MCD has a total of 1,535 schools at 1,185 sites located in 12 zones in Delhi, with around 8.5 lakh students studying.