Lucknow: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has questioned the tender process of procuring shoes and socks for the school children, and asked the government to submit tender-related documents. The matter has been posted for further hearing on April 11.
Taking cognizance of news reports about inferior quality of shoes and socks being distributed in government schools, the high court said that the matter needs to be dealt with strictness, and filed a PIL in this regard.
Justices Vikram Nath and Abdul Moin said that a scheme worth Rs 266 crore for distribution of shoes and Rs 1 crore for giving socks to 54 lakh students was ruined because of the laxity of the officers.
“The officers have wasted taxpayers’ money and now accountability should be fixed,” it said.
Earlier, Basic Education Minister Anupama Jaiswal had also sought a report from all Basic Shiksha Adhikaris in the state after the matter was highlighted.
The court has now asked the government to send secretary-level officer on April 11 for hearing in the case.
The decision to distribute shoes and socks to the students from class I to class VIII in government schools of Uttar Pradesh was taken in October last year.
The expense of shoes and socks for a student was Rs 135.47 for shoes, while for socks it was Rs 21.85, but the shoes and socks started to wear out within a few months of the distribution, raising a question its quality.
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