New Delhi, Dec 20: Air purifiers will be installed in 10,000 classrooms of government schools in Delhi in the first phase, with tenders floated for the project, Education Minister Ashish Sood said on Friday.
The facility will be expanded to all government schools in the national capital in a phased manner, Sood said, adding that Delhi has around 38,000 classrooms in government schools.
The initiative aims to protect students’ health and ensure uninterrupted education amid high pollution levels in the city, he said.
According to official data, Delhi has 5,556 recognised schools with an enrolment of over 46.29 lakh students, of which about 48.25 per cent are government and government-aided institutions.
Addressing a press conference, Sood said air pollution in Delhi was not a seasonal issue but the result of long-term policy failures of the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
He alleged that earlier measures such as the Odd-Even scheme and the ‘Red Light On, Vehicle Off’ campaign were ineffective and largely driven by public relations considerations.
Citing a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, the minister claimed that during 2017–18, around 30 per cent of air quality monitoring stations were installed in green areas, which allegedly led to an understatement of actual pollution levels.
Outlining steps taken by the current government, Sood said the use of recycled construction and demolition material has been made mandatory from October 11, with payments for construction works linked to compliance.
He said the Bhalswa landfill has been targeted for complete remediation by September 2026, and a tender has been issued for the disposal of 18 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste.
Biogas plants have been commissioned at the Nangli Sakrawati and Ghoga dairies for scientific management of dairy waste, he added.
To curb dust pollution, mechanical road sweepers will be procured for each Assembly constituency using funds from the environment cess, Sood said.
He also said Rs 175 crore has been released to strengthen municipal bodies, while an additional Rs 500 crore is under process.
The minister added that a pending electric vehicle subsidy amounting to Rs 45 crore has been cleared and bottlenecks in major public transport projects, including Metro Phase IV and the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), are being addressed to strengthen public transport in the city.
