Bihar education authorities have issued show-cause notices to RailTel and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) after science laboratory construction was completed in only 351 of 2,199 government secondary and higher secondary schools across the state. Both agencies have been ordered to accelerate the work and meet a November 30 deadline.
The action followed a review conducted on October 24 by Navdeep Shukla, state project director of the Bihar Education Project Council. According to a department communique, RailTel had completed laboratories in 78 of the 1,055 schools assigned to it, while TCIL had completed work in 273 of the 1,144 schools allotted to it.
The review also found that construction had not started in some schools. The laboratories are being established under the Samagra Shiksha scheme on a turnkey basis and are intended to provide physics, chemistry and biology facilities in government schools.
Under the revised directions, RailTel must complete work in 518 schools and TCIL in 816 schools by November 30. The agencies are also required to supply furniture and equipment and hand over the completed laboratories to the respective headmasters. The education department has warned that penalties could be imposed if the agencies fail to meet the targets.
TCIL has been assigned work across 20 districts, while RailTel is responsible for 18 districts. The distribution of work means that the implementation delay spans multiple administrative jurisdictions rather than being limited to a single school or district. The department has directed district education officers, district programme officers and Samagra Shiksha officials to monitor progress regularly, coordinate with the executing agencies and resolve obstacles promptly.
The project director also emphasised that construction quality must be maintained while the work is expedited. Engineers have been instructed to conduct field visits to check progress and ensure that the laboratories are completed to the required standard. The directions cover not only civil construction but also the delivery of furniture and laboratory equipment before the facilities are handed over.
The figures in the department’s review show that 1,848 of the 2,199 planned laboratories remained incomplete at the time of assessment. RailTel had completed roughly 7% of its assigned work, while TCIL had completed roughly 24% of its allocation. The November 30 deadline therefore requires both agencies to complete the majority of their pending assignments within the period set by the state authorities.
The show-cause notices place responsibility for explaining the delay on the two executing agencies. District-level officials and engineers have been given a monitoring role as the department seeks to move the project from construction to operational handover. The next formal milestone is the November 30 completion deadline, when the agencies are expected to finish the remaining laboratories, provide the required equipment and transfer the facilities to schools.
