Sweater Distribution in UP: Govt Fails to Adhere to Deadline

New Delhi: Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has failed in fulfilling its promise of completing distribution of free sweaters to the students of all government-run primary and upper primary schools by October 31.

About 38% of 1.57 crore children studying in 1.6 lakh primary schools under the basic education department have not received the sweaters due to the government’s mismanagement. 

According to Basic Education Department director Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh, complete distribution will be done by November 30. He told News18 that 30% of distribution is complete. However, on the other hand, UP Director General of Education Vijay Kiran Anand has claimed that 70% sweaters have been distributed. 

According to several reports, one of the key reasons behind this delay is that the private firm, which was given the tender for sweater distribution, has run off. The firm neither gave the sample nor shipped the sweater consignment.

A teacher from a primary school, on the condition of anonymity, told NewsClick, “My district, Deoria, has not received funds from the department to distribute sweaters. We have bought some sweaters from the market using money from our own pockets and given to a few of the students who were in dire need. This is not the first time that sweaters are being distributed late due to the lack of funding. It is a yearly routine.”

Another teacher said, “Earlier, the government used to send the amount for purchasing sweaters into the account of the basic shiksha adhikari (BSA), which then would be transferred to the headmasters. But this time, the government is buying sweaters and sending it to every district. In my district, sweaters have not even arrived yet.”

The situation is reportedly similar in most of the schools of the state.

Meanwhile, Ramapati, a native of Bahraich district and parent of two children, told NewsClick, “The winters have already started and we are waiting to get sweaters from the government. My kids are being forced to shiver in the schools and I do not have money to buy a sweater for them. In my village, several parents have stopped sending their kids to the school due to the sudden change in the weather. I will also have to do the same if we don’t get sweaters soon.”

Sushil Gautam, a social activist based in Meerut, told NewsClick, “In a few areas in Meerut district, sweaters have been distributed among children. A major chunk is still waiting. In Hardoi district, the majority of primary schools haven’t received the sweaters. The reason is that the contract is given for sweater distribution. Where the commission has been received, the sweaters have been distributed. In regions where the distributors have received the commission, sweaters are being distributed.”

Agani Sharad Chandiya, who runs a coaching centre in Meerut's plush Shastri Nagar area, told NewsClick, “Sweaters aside, children in our area have not been given even school uniforms or shoes. In my coaching centre, there are 179 children and none of them have received anything from their schools. Condition of their school buildings is also abysmal. Teachers hardly come to the school on time. That is why, I, along with other teachers, am running a coaching centre—focusing mostly on Dalit children.”