ਕੀ ਹਰ ਜਨਰਲ ਕੈਟਾਗਰੀ ਦਾ ਹਰ ਉਮੀਦਵਾਰ ਅਮੀਰ ਤੇ ਉੱਚੇ ਘਰਾਣੇ ਨਾਲ ਸਬੰਧ ਰੱਖਦਾ ਹੈ?
Schools fail to buy winter uniform for Rs 400
Management committees demand more funds as winter sets in
Balwant Garg/Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Faridkot/Patiala, December 22
With the government fixing Rs 400 as the upper limit for buying a set of winter uniform for schoolchildren, the school management committees are in a fix. The Education Department has recently released over Rs 60 crore for elementary schools in the state to purchase 15 lakh sets of uniform for all girl and SC/BPL category boy students.
Four month ago while submitting quotations for winter uniform, district education officials had demanded Rs 1,000 per uniform which includes a salwar-kameez with dupatta, a pullover, a pair of shoes and socks for girls and for boys, a pair of trouser, a shirt, a cap, a pullover, a pair of shoes and socks.
While the harsh winter season has already set in, the schools are finding it difficult to purchase the uniform for Rs 400 each.
Anjali Bhawra, secretary, State Education Department, admitted that Rs 400 for a winter uniform was too low. "The Education Department had sent the recommendation to increase the prices but as the funds for these uniforms are issued by the Central Government under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), we have no say in the matter," she said.
There has been no increase in the ceiling for winter uniform for the past four years.
Quotations invited by the schools from suppliers to provide uniforms at Rs 400 per set have failed to evoke any response.
The problem for the school management committees is acute since it is mandatory for them to provide uniform to the students before December 31. "We have to submit a report in the matter by December 31," said a district education official.
A random check with uniform suppliers shows that an average quality pullover alone costs Rs 200 that too for smaller sizes. A pair of shoes and socks makes up for another Rs 200, leaving no scope for the purchase of trouser-shirt/suit-salwar. The price of a set of uniform thus comes out to be Rs 600 to Rs 700.
The principal of a Patiala-based school said they had somehow managed to provide uniforms to the students last year, but the quality was very poor. He said: "There are a large number of students in government schools who cannot afford to even pay Rs 30 as their fee, forget about buying school uniform. The scheme is a blessing for them. The government must increase the money or tie up with suppliers on its own to buy uniforms in bulk".
"Instead of giving uniforms on the basis of caste, the government should give such incentives on economic grounds," said another school principal.