After announcing the centralised manufacture of school uniforms, the state government has now realised that it won't be able to finish the stitching of the dresses in time for the new academic year.
With only days left for schools to reopen, the Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad (MPSP) has issued a circular saying that they will provide only one stitched uniform to each student, while the schools will have to get the second dress sewn on their own at a cost of Rs 100, which schools find to be inadequate. The students will likely not get their new uniforms when they rejoin the school around June 15, as the government expects the fabric production and stitching process to continue till the month end.
According to a government official, the delay was caused due to various practical difficulties encountered during the mammoth exercise of manufacturing and stitching 88 lakh uniforms for students at government schools across the state. While the process itself began late in the month of January, it was further delayed by a legal challenge to the government's tendering process by textile traders. As this was the first-ever instance of centrally procuring uniforms, the state had to go through many 'trials and errors', said the official.
One of the major issue faced by state was that the standardised measurements fixed for uniforms for various grades tuned out be inaccurate during the sewing phase. "When we sought feedback from some schools, we were told that the length of skirts and shorts should be longer than the one specified in the tender document. While we had provided for salwar kameez only for girls in eight grade, some schools introduce them right from class 5. There was also no provision for dupatta (scarf) in the earlier plan," said the official.
The Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM), a state body working for the social and economic development of women, which was tasked with stitching the uniforms wanted 'micro cut' pieces of fabric for each of the dresses they were supposed to produce. However, doing so wouldn't have allowed for variation in sizes of students within same class.
The garment traders, who are involved in the uniform manufacturing business, blamed the government for its faulty planning. "The policy of roping in the SHGs was wrong to begin with. They don't have the requisite expertise and equipment to produce intricate scout and guide uniforms. Everyone including the garment and fabric manufacturers as well as the workers suffered due to this decision," said Lalit Kumar Vaid, a member of Maharashtra Kapad Vyapari Sangh (MKVS), an organisation of textile traders.
The schools are upset with the eleventh-hour directive, as they scramble to get the uniforms ready in a short time and on a limited budget. Sajid Nisar Ahmed, state general secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Urdu Shikshak Sangh (ABUSS), an organisation of Urdu medium school teachers, said that the Rs 100 stitching allowance being given by the state is inadequate. "It won't be possible to find garment manufacturers who can sew clothes at this rate. We demand that the schools be given at least Rs 400 per student," he said.
The government, however, hopes to improve the system by the next academic year. "Since this was the first year, there were lot of variables that we wren't aware of. For the next year, we will start the tendering process much earlier," said the official.
The state government introduced a new policy of centrally procuring and disbursing school uniforms, which are given to around 44 lakh students in classes 1 to 8 at government-run and aided schools. Until now, the government would give cash- Rs 600 for two uniforms per student each year - to school management committees (SMCs) of the respective schools, which then decide the make of the uniform and get them stitched locally.
The Maharashtra government has tasked the Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM), a state body working for the social and economic development of women, with stitching around 88 lakh school uniforms. The body will rope in women's Self Help Groups across the state to sew the garments, which will fetch them Rs 110 apiece. Last month, the Maharashtra Prathmik Shiksha Parishad (MPSP), the state authority responsible for providing free uniforms, has given a Rs 127 contract for manufacturing the estimated 1.25 Cr meters of cloth required for the uniforms to Padamchand Milapchand Jain, an Ichalkarnaji-based textile firm, following a competitive bidding process.
After a quality check, this fabric are cut according to the types and sizes of clothing articles and transported to the Block, Cluster and Community-run Resource Centres across the state, following which SHGs begin the stitching process.
While the government believes that the new policy is aimed at providing better quality dresses at lower cost, and empowering women entrepreneurs, the smaller textile traders who have been involved in the uniform manufacturing business believe that it will be a death knell for several units across the state and lead to job losses. Some experts have also argued that instead of imposing same uniforms, the schools and students should be allowed to decide the make of their dresses.
While the government is confident of SHGs' ability to handle a project of such a scale, the textile companies that have been involved in uniform manufacturing business are apprehensive about it. They believe the Womens’ SHGs lack adequate resources, state-of-the-art machines, and skilled manpower to stitch the uniforms.
