Delhi government will install around 1.46 lakh CCTV cameras in its 1,028 schools within six months, both for security as well as to link the students with their parents in real time through mobile phones. The expenditure finance committee approved the installation of the cameras at an estimated cost of Rs 597.5 crore.
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On Wednesday, Satyendar Jain, public works department minister, said the cameras would be installed in each classroom of the government schools. ¡°After the cameras are installed, the parents will be provided with IDs and passwords to allow them to access to live footage of running classes,¡± Jain said.?
Government sources said the technical aspect of allowing parents to view live footage from the schools is being worked out by experts. The current plan is to create a special phone app for the purpose. Principals can also view live video feed on LED screens to be installed in the schools. Video footage from each camera will be available for 30 days. To enable the system, high-speed internet connectivity will be provided to schools.
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Jain said seven companies responded to the bid tender for the project. ¡°It was a rate-contract tender under which the money would be earmarked for each installed camera. The total has been estimated at Rs 597.5 crore, but the exact budget could increase or decrease,¡± a government official said. Of the total estimated sum, Rs 384.6 crore was earmarked for project execution and Rs 57.7 crore for maintenance over five years.
The official also said, ¡°The project will be placed before the cabinet for approval and the work would be awarded to the winning bidder only after cabinet approval.¡± The CCTV project will also require the clearance of lieutenant governor Anil Baijal.
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The school CCTV project is not part of the project to install 2,000 CCTV cameras in each of Delhi¡¯s 70 assembly constituencies. That project is caught in a jurisdiction squabble between the LG and the government and the entire Arvind Kejriwal cabinet sitting on a dharna outside Baijal¡¯s office on Tuesday. The LG has formed a high-level committee to prepare the standard operating procedure for installing the cameras in the city. This is opposed by the government, which maintains that locality residents should formulate the SOP, not bureaucrats.