 "Satyendra Jain")
As many as 146,000 CCTVs will be installed in over 1,000 Delhi government schools in six months at an estimated cost of Rs 5.97 billion, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Satyendra Jain said here on Wednesday.
The CCTVs will be installed in classrooms and open areas, except bathrooms.
Jain said that a tender has been floated and seven to eight companies have participated in the bidding process.
The Minister said that 146,800 closed-circuit televisions will be installed in 1,028 city government schools.
The CCTV footage will be stored in every school and automatically erased after 30 days, adding that parents will be issued an ID and password to view the footage.
Jain said of the Rs 5.97 billion, Rs 3.85 billion will be spent on execution of the project, Rs 570.69 million on maintenance of the cameras and Rs 1.55 billion on the internet connection for the schools.
The project was approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) of the Delhi government.
Meanwhile, the installation of another 140,000 CCTVs across the city, aimed at protection of women, has become the new flashpoint between the Delhi government and Lt. Governor Anil Baijal.
Baijal had formed a committee to look into the installation of CCTVs, while the AAP government asked him to stay off the project, alleging that it was being done to stall the project.
