Jaipur/ Bharatpur, July 27 -- Even as the 2,710 school buildings in Rajasthan were found in a dilapidated condition since 2024 but the allocated budget of Rs.254 crores was delayed, as per an internal report of the education department, state education minister Madan Dilawar on Saturday said that he cannot pay the money from his "own pocket," sparking a controversy in the state. According to the report, the department had identified 710 dilapidated school buildings during 2024-25 for which a Rs.79.24 crores had been allocated in the budget for their repair. Another 2,000 school buildings were identified in the current 2025-26 financial year for which the government allocated a Rs.174.97 crores fund for the renovation work. HT has seen a copy of the report. Of these 2,710 dilapidated buildings, 83 buildings were also identified in the Jhalawar district, as per the report, including the six buildings in particular in the district's Manohar Thana block, where the Pipdoli Government Higher Primary School is located that had collapsed on Friday leading to the deaths of seven minor students. However, the majority of the fund that was allocated in 2025-26 session is yet to be sanctioned by the finance department, the report revealed. Responding to a question regarding the delay of this fund being released, education minister Madan Dilawar, during an event in Bharatpur on Saturday said, "It is not like we are getting our own houses built out of that money and I take out money from my own pocket and get the work started at midnight. Paying from my own pocket for these schools is not possible. There is a process for the funds being released which takes time. We need to wait." He further added: "The school incident is being investigated and action will be taken. The officials argue that the school was repaired from the fund of Rs.1 lakh, released by the Dang Development Board. This incident happened due to the collapse of the room wall. I take accountability for the incident that happened in Jhalawar." It was also found that the education department had flagged all the district education office time to time to repair the dilapidated buildings ahead of the monsoon, but the warnings were ignored. At least seven minor students lost their lives after a portion of a government upper primary school building collapsed in Piplodi village of Jhalawar district on Friday. Nandkishore Verma, SHO of Manoharthana police station said about 35 children were buried under debris in the incident. Following the incident, CM Bhajan Lal Sharma on Saturday formed a state-level committee and a district-level committee in each district comprising the officials from the education department and public works department to conduct a survey of the dilapidated buildings including the schools, and Anganwadi buildings and finish their renovation work by June 15 each year before the monsoon starts. Commenting on the development, the Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said, "How could the Education minister be so insensitive in such a difficult time? It is the result of a sheer negligence by the government. They failed to release the money and initiate the repair work. They should take the accountability."...