BHUBANESWAR: The ambitious free school uniform supply scheme of the State Government has found its first little scam. Small in magnitude though, the School and Mass Education Department has traced how officials entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring quality have actually turned into suppliers of cheap quality uniform. In the first crackdown, the Department initiated action against four officials after an inquiry revealed that the centre coordinators at block and cluster levels were either involved in the irregularities or closed their eyes to the issue. As a result of this students of more than one school received poor quality uniform in a block in Keonjhar district. Action has been initiated against the four, one of whom, a cluster resource centre coordinator (CCRC), has been suspended. The State Government, which has been doling out welfare schemes, one after another, keeping the panchayat elections in mind, had announced four pairs of free uniforms to each of the 51 lakh students. The beneficiaries include girl students and SC/ST boys from BPL category. The month-end is the deadline for supply of the uniforms. Even as the distribution was on, complaints received from Talachamei village under Bansapal block of Keonjhar prompted the Department to order an inquiry by State Project Director of Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority KG Mohapatra. The inquiry report revealed that uniforms supplied to students were found below the specific standards. “The investigation found that field-level functionaries were creating a racket to compromise with the quality and siphon off the funds meant for the scheme,” Secretary, School and Mass Education Department, Aparajita Sarangi said. In fact, Lambodar Sahoo, the CRCC in question, was found to have supplied the uniforms himself to all the schools in the cluster. Though the scheme’s norms provide that the village education committee and headmaster should be entrusted with the job of supplying uniforms, Sahoo played his part and took the supply contract upon himself. While Sahoo has been suspended, penal measures have been ordered against the sub-inspector of schools and two other teachers. The investigation also brought to light that no activity under Sarva Siksha Abhijan has been undertaken in the Talachampei School for the last two years as neither the BRCC nor the SI of Schools visited it. Sarangi said, no functionary will be allowed to compromise with the quality of uniforms as the actions will send a strong message.
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