Government begins process to give school bags

ALLAHABAD: Eight months after it announced to give free school bags over one crore students of class 1 to VIII in government-run schools, the education department has finally started the process, when the session is more than halfway through and assembly elections are round the corner.

Carrying the message of 'Khub Padho Khub Badho' along with a slogan highlighting the development works done by the Akhilesh Yadav government, each bag has cost the state exchequer Rs 144.

Special secretary

DP Singh

has written to district magistrates and basic shiksha adhikaris (

BSA

), asking them to collect bags at delive ry points, their verification, distribution and payment.

A BSA said, “The district magistrate has been entrusted with the task of constituting a team for supply of bags after checking to ensure that they carry a warranty of one year.“ The administration, as well as the education department, has been asked to expe dite the process so that the bags are distributed before March next year. To publicise the scheme, the education department would also be putting up flex board banners in remote villages as well.

Jasra

primary school head master

Rajmani Shukla

said, “The bags were meant to be distributed to schoolchildren at the beginning of their academic session. The department expects us to stop everything and go about receiving bags and then distributing them when we are already being given poll-related work.“

The decision follows many teachers' associations protesting over how children haven't yet received chief minister's much-hyped `Dhanteras gift' of stainless steel plates and glasses.