Supreme Court judge urges redirecting a fraction of Kumbh funds to save Marathi schools

Justice Prasanna Varale, speaking in Marathi at his former school in Shirpur, expressed concern over the crumbling infrastructure of Marathi-medium schools in Maharashtra. He contrasted the state's Rs 32,000 crore expenditure on the Kumbh mela with the minimal funding needed for education, stating that just 0.1% of that sum could have saved more than a hundred schools from shutting down. The judge referenced recent fatalities among girls in an ashramshala and the overall poor state of residential schools.

He urged the government to match infrastructure spending with investments in modern classrooms, digital screens, computers, and laboratories. Varale also observed that the proportion of the budget allocated to education has fallen from an earlier range of 8%-12%, even as the student population grows. He called for urgent structural reforms to ensure quality education for every child.