THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused successive Congress and BJP governments of neglecting the issue of rent reassessment for Diocesan secondary schools, claiming that rent allowances have remained unchanged for more than three decades despite rising costs and expanding infrastructure needs.
AAP's Benaulim MLA Capt Venzy Viegas raised the issue after holding a meeting with representatives of Diocesan schools in the Benaulim constituency to discuss the long-pending reassessment of school rents.
Viegas said the last rent assessment was carried out over 30 years ago, even though these schools have expanded significantly since then and student enrolment has increased.
He pointed out that commercial and residential rents across Goa have risen manifold during this same period, while rent allowances for the Diocesan schools, which are government aided, have failed to keep pace.
"It has been more than 30 years since the last assessment, leaving these schools with rent allowances that do not reflect present rates," Viegas said.
The MLA alleged that both the Congress and BJP governments had failed to address the issue despite its direct impact on the education sector. He said the fact that an opposition MLA has to take up the matter and engage with school managements showed the lack of attention to the issue by successive governments.
Viegas described Diocesan schools as the backbone of Goa's school education system and noted that generations of Goans, including himself, had studied in these institutions.
Terming it official apathy, he said no government had adequately addressed the concerns of diocesan schools.
He extended support to schools across Goa facing similar issues and urged them to contact him for guidance on the process even as he maintained that a revised rent assessment was urgently necessary.
