Mumbai: Urdu schools say big ‘no’ to govt uniforms

Over 800 Urdu medium schools across Maharashtra have rejected and returned uniforms provided under the state governmentrsquos lsquoOne State One Uniformrsquo scheme citing cultural inappropriateness These schools are demanding full frocks or frocksalwar kameez and dupattas for girls as well as full shirts and pants for boys The current uniforms consisting of halfpants for boys and frocks for girls have been deemed ldquounsuitablerdquo ldquoinappropriaterdquo by the schoolslsquoCultural requirementsrsquoSajid Nisar founder and General Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Urdu Shikshak Sangh said ldquoThe government introduced the lsquoOne State One Uniformrsquo policy on June 8 2023 to provide free uniforms to 4460004 students However over 20 lakh students are yet to receive their uniforms The uniforms provided consisted of half shirts and half pants for boys while girls were only given frocks For students in our Urdu medium schools from standards I to VIII we demand full shirts and pants for boys and frocks or kameez with salwar and a dupatta for girls On September 19 we met with School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar to submit our demands but no response has been received so farrdquoThe new uniform introduced by the government left the uniform currently worn by Urdu school studentsldquoParents are dissatisfied with the inappropriate attire We donrsquot oppose the policyrsquos standard colour but we want uniforms that meet our cultural requirementsrdquo said Samina Mukhtar a parent and teacher from an Urdu school in MiraBhayander Niyaz Shaikh a teacher in Kurla added ldquoThese protests highlight broader concerns about the lack of attention to the needs of Urdu medium studentsrdquoPoor quality uniformsDelays and poor quality have also drawn sharp political criticism While identical uniforms were once the norm two decades ago the policy was discontinued allowing schools to choose their designs through SMCsUnder the new plan uniform production was entrusted to a selfhelp group registered under the Maharashtra Arthik Vikas Mahamandal MAVM but the group has faced criticism for alleged shortcomings Vijay Kombey the state president of the Maharashtra State Primary Teachers Committee revealed that nearly 75 per cent of schools in Vidarbha have yet to receive uniformsCost a problem tooldquoHow can they ensure the quality of uniforms with such a meagre budget Itrsquos challenging to provide a set of uniforms for just Rs 100 Previously the government allocated Rs 300 per uniform which included the cost of fabric Now however the government supplies the fabric and the sewing is done by the selfhelp groupsrdquo said Sajid NisarWhatrsquos causing the delaySchools in many areas have struggled to identify selfhelp groups capable of tailoring uniforms for the low price In some districts even where uniforms have been distributed issues such as lowquality fabric or mismatched sizes have been reported Some uniforms are even delivered in the same size leaving teachers and parents questioning their usability The head of a selfhelp group under MAVM stated that uniform delivery has been delayed due to a lack of materialsPolitical falloutOpposition parties have seized upon the issue accusing the ruling government of incompetence The situation worsened when it was revealed that many of the distributed uniforms were of poor quality NCP MLA Rohit Pawar said ldquoYou can ridicule me but donrsquot mock these poor students If you do destiny will mock you and your government will be as unstable as these uniformsrdquo Pawar saidOpposition leader Ambadas Danve criticised the government for failing to meet the August 15 2024 deadline noting that only 24 lakh of the 45 lakh students slated to receive uniforms had done so by the end of September ldquoAnd even those uniforms are substandard This government has crossed all limits of corruption even at the expense of schoolchildrenrdquo Danve saidAccusations of corruptionOpposition leaders have accused the government of corruption in the procurement process ldquoThis is a scam and the public will soon demand accountabilityrdquo Pawar said The school education department has yet to issue statement on the controversy and Kesarkar has been unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to reach him