New Delhi: Only 7,116 new schools were set up across India in 2009-10, meeting only half of the target set for constructing new school buildings under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Among the worst performers were West Bengal and Orissa, the government said on Friday.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry informed the Lok Sabha that under the SSA, 14,579 school buildings at the primary education level were sanctioned, and of these 7,116 were now complete or under construction.

Minister of state for HRD D. Purendeswari informed the house that while 1,136 schools were sanctioned to West Bengal, only 36 have been completed or are under construction. In Uttarkhand, of the 182 sanctioned buildings, a solitary building was completed by the end of December last year.

In Orissa, 2,486 schools were sanctioned but only 810 have been completed, the minister informed the members.

The minister, however, said that Madhya Pradesh and Arunchal Pradesh were doing very well in this field. Arunchal Pradesh constructed all its sanctioned school buildings.

Similarly Madhya Pradesh finished construction of 606 of the 684 sanctioned schools under the SSA programme, which aims at universalising elementary education across the country. IANS