Me-too cry for uniforms

Students at Guria Primary School in East Midnapore’s Nandakumar where only girls have new uniforms. Telegraph picture

Tamluk, Sept. 6: Parents of impoverished general category male students in at least three districts have protested the distribution of free uniforms to only SC/ST category pupils and girls under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

Under the Centre’s universal education scheme, all SC/ST students and girls between Classes I and VIII are given two sets of uniforms each but there is no such provision for general category boys. The move has created resentment among parents of general category male students in East Midnapore, Hooghly and Bankura.

Of the 5,000 primary (Classes I to IV) and junior primary (Classes V to VIII) schools in East Midnapore, around 1,500 have not distributed the uniforms because of protests by the parents.

The Centre has allotted Rs 19 crore for the district to supply the uniforms to the beneficiaries of the scheme. Around 4.75 lakh students have been identified to be eligible for the uniforms and the distribution has already begun.

But there are around four lakh boys who belong to the general category and hence have not got free uniforms. Many of their parents said they found it difficult to buy new uniforms.

Chandan Kar, a marginal farmer in Nandakumar whose son is in Class III, said: “My son Supriyo was upset when he saw his elder sister (Class IV student Sunita) get new uniforms. He is too young to understand that general category boys are not entitled to free uniforms. He started crying when I told him I don’t have the money to buy him new uniforms.”

A district official said the funds were sanctioned in August and Rs 400 was earmarked for each eligible student. “Nearly 2,500 schools have distributed the uniforms but around 1,500 others have not done so, keeping in mind the grievances of the impoverished general category students and their parents. We have come to know that at least 500 schools have raised funds from teachers, guardians and local panchayats and municipalities to buy uniforms for these students,” he said.

Salgachhia Primary School is one such example. “We collected money from parents and teachers and bought uniforms for each of our students,” Ashok Das, a teacher of the school, said.

Arup Bhowmik, the district secretary of the Bengal Primary Teachers’ Association, said: “Young boys feel sad if they don’t get uniforms like their friends. After all, they are just children.”

The SSA district committee chairperson, Gandhi Hazra, who also heads the zilla parishad, has appealed to the Centre and the state government to provide uniforms to all students under the SSA. “If all students can get mid-day meals and grants for books, then why cannot all students get uniforms as well,” he said.

In Hooghly, Rs 19 crore has been sanctioned for the uniforms. But there is discontent among poor parents.

Sayantan Roy is a Class IV student of Hooghly Branch School. His mother Ruby said buying a uniform for him was not possible for the family that earns Rs 3,000 a month. “It is not possible for us to buy him a school uniform. But in his school, the girls as well as SC/ST boys have got two sets of new uniforms. Now, my son is demanding a new uniform. This system is not good,” Ruby, a Bandel resident, said.

Similarly, in Birbhum, where Rs 15 crore has been sanctioned, request for uniforms for all students has been made to the SSA authorities in the district.

“The demands have come from parents of the general category students who are needy,” said an inspector of schools in the district.

C.D. Lama, the state SSA project director, said: “We had anticipated that there would be such complaints from boy students of general category. We had also sent a proposal to Delhi. But no funds were allotted for the purpose.”