Session to end soon, government schools' students await funds

ROHTAK: With the current academic session about to end in the next two months, several students of classes I to VIII in government schools in Rohtak district are yet to get school bags and stationery fund from the state education department.
According to the education department norms , every student of a government school from classes I to VIII is entitled to a fund of Rs 800 for school uniform and Rs 120 for stationery and Rs 100 for a bag.In 2015, the funds were given to students by November, after submission of their details by their respective schools.
At Patwarpur government school in Rohtak, 120 students are waiting for the funds to buy new bags, stationery and uniforms. The government senior secondary school in Gandhi Nagar,where about 300 students study, faces a similar situation.
A teacher in a school told TOI that the transfer of funds was not done as government has mandated the students to link their Aadhar card with their bank accounts to get the funds. But many parents could not update their Aadhar cards with their banks due to ongoing demonetisation issue.
Another teacher at government school in Rohtak said banks gave preference to deal with demonetisation issues and did not pay heed to parents who were making rounds to update their banks, while many of them could not do so due to ignorance about banking system.
A Class VIII student in a local school said they had to wear old and torn uniforms as their parents could not afford to buy them new ones.
Admiting the delay in transfer of funds for school dress, stationery and bag, Rohtak district education officer (elementary) Parmeshwari Hooda said there were problems at different levels, which led to the delay in disbursal of funds for students. "Some schools have not submitted their records, parents of many students have not linked their Aadhar cards properly and some banks have also not updated their systems," she said.
She said the department had been transferring the funds and beneficiaries would get money as soon as the issue got sorted out in the next some weeks. Parmeshwari said some of the students having Aadhar-linked bank accounts had got credit of their funds.