Students may have to wait another month to get sweaters!

School management committees to buy and distribute sweaters after government fails to attract enough tenders

LUCKNOW: At a time when the temperature in many parts of the state has fallen below 10 degrees Celsius and is plunging further with every passing day, students of government schools may have to manage without sweaters for at least another month.

Additional chief secretary, Raj Pratap Singh, on Wednesday directed all district magistrates to ask school management committees (SMC) to purchase and distribute sweaters to students within 30 days from the date of issuance of the order.

The order comes after the state government’s efforts to provide sweaters to students of government-run primary and upper primary schools across Uttar Pradesh ran into rough weather.

The government failed to attract enough tenders for sweaters, and the price quoted by those who had applied was above Rs 200 / piece -- the upper limit fixed by the government.

So, it was decided that help would be sought from school management committees, and the practice followed while purchasing uniforms last year would be replicated. In 2017, the old khaki uniforms of government school students were replaced with new red-coloured ones.

However, the additional chief secretary’s order comes at a time when the winter has already set

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The specific colour and the low price set by the government could make it difficult. Despite repeated tenders, the government failed to get a quotation under the desired price

A MEMBER OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

in. Officials in many districts have been forced to either order closure of schools or change the timings to shield children from the chill.

Earlier, the government had also allowed students to come to school wearing whatever woollen clothes they had at home.

Now, SMCs will begin purchasing sweaters from the market. These will be bought in four different sizes -- ‘small’ for students of Classes 1 and 2, ‘medium’ for students of Classes 3 and 4, ‘large’ for students of Classes 5 and 6, and ‘extra large’ for students of Classes 7 and 8.

“Under no circumstances, the price of each sweater should exceed Rs 200,” reads the order of the additional CS.

The state government has allocated Rs 390 crore for purchasing sweaters for the 1.54 core students studying in government schools of UP. “The colour of the sweater will be maroon,” an official said.

Meanwhile, some officials of school management committees said they believed the government rules were so complicated that they might not be able to purchase the sweaters within the stipulated 30 days.

“The specific colour and the low price set by the government could make it difficult. Despite repeated tenders, the government failed to get a quotation under the desired price,” said an SMC member on condition of anonymity.

To monitor the quality and purchase of sweaters, the government has also constituted a committee headed by district magistrates. Other members are chief development officers, senior subdivisional magistrates named by DMs, manager industries, chief/ senior treasury officers and basic shiksha adhikaris.

Meanwhile, the tendering process delayed the purchase and distribution of sweaters. Only two firms had applied, and the price they quoted was reportedly above the limit set by the government.

This situation forced the government to seek short tenders with December 28 as the last date. However, that too didn’t yield results.

Now, the new government order reads that purchase of sweaters must begin by January 6 (Saturday).