With only four months left for the ongoing academic year of 2023-24 to end, nearly one lakh students studying in schools run by the Directorate of Minorities in the State are yet to get their uniform sets. Many of them haven’t got shoes and socks either this year. This has forced many children to come to school in ‘colour dress’.
The Directorate of Minorities runs 200 Maulana Azad Model Schools where over 60,000 students from the minority communities study, along with 29 A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Residential Schools, 80 Morarji Desai Residential Schools, 13 Morarji Desai Girls Residential Schools, and four government Muslim residential school. Put together, there are over one lakh students studying in these schools.
Since most of the students studying in these schools come from poor backgrounds, the Directorate of Minorities provides two sets of stitched uniforms, shoes, socks, textbooks, and stationery free every year.
Speaking to The Hindu, a headmaster of the Maulana Azad Model School, said the delay had become a common feature for many years now. “However, this year the delay has been worse than previous years. We are just a few months away from the completion of the academic year and yet we haven’t got uniforms. Most students come from poor and economically weaker sections and cannot afford to get uniforms stitched,” he said. Another headmaster added that many schools had not received shoes and socks yet.
Fund crunch, delay in tender process
The delay in providing uniforms has been attributed to fund crunch in the Directorate and delay in the tender process. “The Directorate had called for tenders twice but couldn’t get through due to transparency reasons,” a source in the Directorate said.
“We are very conscious about the quality of the uniform as per the guidelines of the Finance Department. Therefore, the tendering process had to be repeated twice. Finally, the tender was finalised and supply has begun in the Belagavi division. We will soon supply uniforms to schools across the State,” said Jeelani H. Mokashi, director, Directorate of Minorities.
