PONDA: Monsoon has ended, but the students of Government Primary Schools (GPSs) in Ponda taluka have neither received raincoats nor have been reimbursed for spending out of their pockets to purchase rainwear.
Parents of GPS Satode-Querim have questioned the government’s lackadaisical attitude towards the students and demanded to know what happened to the free raincoats that were to be distributed under the uniform scheme to primary school students.
Dinesh Gawade, a parent of a student studying in GPS Satode-Querim, informed O Heraldo that due to administrative reason or delay in floating tender for supplying raincoats, this year the students of primary schools were not provided with free rainwear under the State scheme and so the parents were assured of reimbursement by transferring Rs 1,100 to student’s bank account operated jointly by parents and students.
“The rainy season has passed but no money has been transferred. Since this fund has not reached their accounts till date, today we parents have to raise our voice for our rights and justice in front of the memorial of freedom fighters,” he said.
He informed that the parents met the education authorities at Ponda a fortnight ago and were informed that the data of 102 schools had been sent to the Education Department under this scheme. He further said that in the month of July, Director of Education, Shailesh Zingde, had also stated that the funds would be deposited in the students’ accounts within 15 days. However, the State government has failed to provide funds for raincoats to students, he added.
Gawade said that the scheme was for the students of Class I to IV and uniform and raincoats were to be distributed. He said, “Instead of purchasing uniforms and raincoats for government primary students in the State, the government had decided to transfer funds to parents. But at present, even though October has come to an end, this fund has not yet been deposited in the account, so the parents have expressed strong displeasure.”
Stating that while on one hand the government is setting up prestigious institutes like IITs in the State; Gawade said that on the other hand school education is being neglected.
“This is not just a question of Querim school alone, but of school children all over the State. Now that monsoon is over, and winter season will start, sweaters should be given instead of raincoats,” he demanded.
When contacted, officials in ADEI at Ponda informed that money has already been sanctioned to some students, while due to some confusion the rest of the students could not get reimbursement as the same was not sanctioned. The officials said all efforts are on to sort out the issue.
