EXTRAORDINARY
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 399 , CUTTACK, FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018 / FALGUNA 25, 1939
[No. 4578–SME-SSE-SSE-0011/2018/SME.]
SCHOOL & MASS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
RESOLUTION
The 3rd March, 2018
Sub: Implementation of the "Mo School Abhiyan" in the State of Odisha for revamping school education by promoting volunteerism and collaboration through an innovative citizen-government partnership.
A robust and vibrant school education system holds the key to a brighter future for the State and its people. Odisha needs to groom its school children to be successful citizens that shape the emergence of a progressive State.
The Government of Odisha has received expressions of interest from alumni and others who are keen to connect and contribute to their alma maters i.e. schools that they or their relatives attended. Mo School is a first-of-its-kind initiative by a State for strengthening citizen-government partnership in which the former leads in designing the programme, defining its goals and steering its implementation.
In order to fulfil above mentioned objectives, the State Government has launched the "Mo School Abhiyan" (hereinafter, "Mo School Abhiyan") on the occasion of Children's Day i.e. 14th November, 2017 in order to encourage individual alumni, alumni associations, group of persons, institutions, social impact organisations, companies, foundations, philanthropists, and others to contribute to the enhancement of the school ecosystem. They will be provided with a platform to donate funds, materials and services for overall development of the schools in the State of Odisha. The programme will aim to prepare the future generation to evolve into dreamers, doers, makers, growers, explorers, experimenters and entrepreneurs.
The modalities for implementation of the "Mo School Abhiyan" would broadly be as follows:—
1. For implementation of the Mo School Abhiyan a Society (hereinafter, "the Society") shall be constituted and registered under the Society Registration Act, 1860.
2. The Society will be headed by the Chairperson appointed by the State Government in the rank of Minister of State. The role of the Chairperson is to provide leadership, guidance and overall direction to the programme.
3. The Society will have an Executive Body (hereinafter, "the EB") for running the everyday affairs of the programme supported by a Governing Body (hereinafter, "the GB") and a Board of Advisers (hereinafter, "the BoA"), both of which will2 comprise, among others, thought leaders, eminent educationists, social scientists, and notable people from the fields of art, architecture, design, advertising, film-making, literature, science and sports. Bye laws of the Society will specify composition and function of the EB and GB.
4. Further, each District will have a District Level Committee (hereinafter, "DLC"), headed by the District Collector. Bye laws of the Society will specify composition and function of the DLC.
5. A State Level Committee (hereinafter, "SLC") will also be appointed and will be headed by the Principal Secretary, School & Mass Education. Bye laws of the Society will specify composition and function of the SLC.
6. Funds for the implementation of the Mo School programme shall come primarily from two sources – contributions from Donors (hereinafter, "Donors"), and twice the amount of each such contribution to be provided by the State Government from a dedicated Corpus Fund (hereinafter, "Corpus Fund"). An initial contribution of Rs.100,00,00,000/- (Rupees one hundred crore) has been made for the purpose by the Government.
7. Donors to Mo School Abhiyan may include, but not be limited to, individuals, group of persons or institutions. Donors may make contributions in terms of money, materials and/or services. In case of materials and services, there shall be no matching contribution from the Corpus Fund.
8. Donors shall contribute to a general pool from which money shall be utilized for the Mo School Abhiyan at the discretion of the Society as per the Bye laws. However, provisions will be made for the Donors, if they so desire, to indicate their preferences (by district, by category, etc.) for the use of their contribution. The Society will make best effort (but not be obligated) to accommodate the desires and preferences of the Donors. The list of areas for which a Donor may indicate a preference for use of their contribution includes, but is not limited to the following:—
• To bridge infrastructural gaps e.g. hostels, labs, libraries, electronic equipment, internet, classrooms, furniture, toilets, clean drinking water, boundary walls, wheelchair ramps, etc.
• Improve mid-day meal and other nutritional initiatives. • Develop sports infrastructure and coaching support. • Ensure physical and mental well-being of students with annual health check-ups, doctor and counselor visits.
• Curate, create, acquire, deliver multi-disciplinary educational content (e.g. documentaries, films, talks) with guidance from experts and entities.
• Foster human and technology-enabled interventions to enhance the educational ecosystem and bring it on par with world standards.
• Address the problem of teacher absenteeism and lack of motivation through innovative training programmes, workshops, and prizes.
• Facilitate exposure visits, exchange programmes, participation in national and international sports/literary/cultural events.
3• Foster a maker and DIY (Do-It-Yourself) culture where students learn how to work with their hands to build, clean and fix things, whether in a lab or a workshop or their homes or school premises.
• Encourage gardens in every school where students, teachers and parents collaboratively plant saplings and the students learn from local farmers and horticulturists how to raise plants and trees.
9. Contributions shall not be limited to financial or material resources. Mo School will aim at leveraging the intellectual capital and professional success of the alumni (and other individuals) via contributions in terms of architecting policy, design thinking, teaching methods, teacher empowerment, turning parents and local bodies into key stakeholders, creating knowledge societies, promoting democratic and progressive value systems.
10. Budgetary allocation shall be made by the State Government for meeting the financial requirements of the Society such as salaries, remuneration, honoraria, TA/DA, HRA, vehicle charges, contingencies and other expenses in accordance with Government regulations.
11. For implementation of the programme, the Society shall be empowered by the Government to appoint officers, staff and eminent persons having special domain knowledge and expertise in their respective fields, as and when required.
12. Donor contributions and the Corpus Fund shall be kept in separate accounts as per Government regulations.
13. Monetary contributions for Mo School will be collected through cheques, electronic transfers and via the Mo School website. There will be no lower or upper limit to the contributions. Donors will be required to furnish KYC information such as AADHAAR number or PAN number. Non-Resident Indians (NRI) will have to provide passport details, PIO or OCI numbers. Further, the Society is authorized to accept donations from foreign entities, both individuals and organizations as per the existing Government rules and regulations.
14. There shall be an upper cap of Rs.50 lakh on the contribution of Government for a school within a year. However, the donor may contribute as much as he / she desires. In specific cases Government can have the discretion to relax the upper cap and make a higher contribution.
15. In cases where a Donor seeks to contribute more than Rs.20,00,000/- (Rupees
twenty lakh) in a single tranche, the EB will determine the modalities of transfer and use of funds in consultation with the Donor and the DLC.
16. The Society reserves its right to accept contributions only from credible and legitimate sources failing which the Society reserves the right to return the funds.
17. The Chairperson or any other person authorized by him/her, the Collector or any person authorized by him/her, the Secretary, School & Mass Education Department or any person authorized by him/her may inspect the educational4 institution where the project has been implemented to verify whether the work done meets the qualitative and quantitative outcomes envisaged for the project and is within the stipulated budget.
18. The Society shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare annual statement of accounts indicating the income and expenditure for each financial year which shall be subject to audit by an authorised Chartered Accountant and/ or Independent Experts authorized by the EC.
19. The Society shall submit annually within six months of the closing of the previous year to the School & Mass Education Department, Government of Odisha, a report on the progress of the Mo School Abhiyan together with an audited statement of accounts.
This has been concurred in by the Finance Department in the OSWAS file No. SME-SSE-SSE-0011/2018 on dated the 13th February,2018.
ORDER
Ordered that the Resolution be published in an Extraordinary issue of the Odisha Gazette for general information. Also ordered that the copies of the Resolution be forwarded to the Secretary to His Excellency the Governor of Odisha/ All Ministers/ all Departments of Government/ all Heads of Departments/ all Revenue Divisional Commissioners/ all Collectors/ Accountant General (A & E), Odisha, Bhubaneswar.
By Order of the Governor
P.K. MOHAPATRA
Principal Secretary to Government
Printed and published by the Director, Printing, Stationery and Publication, Odisha, Cuttack-10 Ex. Gaz. 2106-173+200