The BJD-led Odisha government has announced that it will provide free uniforms to the students of Classes 9th and 10th in public and aided schools. An official informed that earlier only students of up to class 8th were entitled to free uniforms in the state.
The funding for the uniforms will be done under the state scheme ‘Mukhyamatri Chhatra Chhatri Paridhan Yojana’. An expenditure of around Rs 1,000 will be incurred for each student. Each student will be given two pairs of uniforms, a T-shirt and tracksuit, a pair of black shoes, and two pairs of socks. Girls would be given two pairs of salwar-kurta sets and jackets while boys will be given pant-shirt sets.
The directorate of secondary education released a circular in this regard. The circular read, “The district education officers will have to submit a certificate to the director of secondary education that all students have received the uniforms and shoes by July 15.”
This new green color uniform has been introduced for classes 9 and 10. Whereas, the earlier uniforms were of blue and white colors for both boys and girls.
The logo ‘Ame Gadhibu Nua Odisha’ (Translation- We Will Build New Odisha) will be written on the new uniforms.
At the block level, a committee will be formed to oversee the purchase and distribution of clothing, shoes, and socks. This committee will be led by MSMEs or recognized Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
As per the new directive, students will wear this uniform five days a week. While on Saturdays, the students will have to wear T-shirts and track pants. The T-shirts will be in four colors to represent four houses – blue, green, red, and yellow colors. While the track pants will be of dark blue color.
As per the Directorate of Secondary Education (DSE) notification, two houses will be formed in schools where the strength is less than 100 students and they will choose any two colors out of the four. Whereas, four houses will be formed in schools having strength more than 100 students and they will be given all four color T-shirts.
Opposition targets the BJD government for changing the color of the dresses
While numerous parents and students expressed their delight over receiving free sets of uniforms, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress alleged that it was a deliberate move by the BJD government to influence young minds. They claimed that the new uniforms have been made in green color because of BJD’s party colors.
The BJD’s party symbol is a white conch shell on a green background.
BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi alleged that the BJD government changed the color of the dress to influence young kids and their parents ahead of polls.
She said, “The BJD government has suddenly changed the color of uniforms to green without discussing it with anyone. The change has been done to influence young kids and their parents ahead of the polls. Instead of such superficial changes, the government should have taken steps to improve the deteriorating quality of secondary education.”
Former chief secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik is now the Odisha Congress campaign committee chairman. He advised the BJD government to keep the schools above petty politics.
He said, “Everyone in Odisha knows that BJD is identified by the green color, and so the government should have kept the schools above petty politics.”
BJP MLA Suraj Suryabanshi slammed the state government and asked the government to focus on the quality of education and address more pressing issues like the prevalence of anemia, stunted growth, and malnutrition among students. He also highlighted that the school system in Odisha needs major functional overhauls, like the appointment of more teachers and focus on quality. “Just building new classrooms and smart classes, and providing new uniforms won’t be enough to lift the standard of school education in the state”, Suryabanshi added.
Earlier, similar controversy had erupted in the state in March 2022. Back then, the leader of the opposition Jaynarayan Mishra targeted the BJD government for badly handling the education system in the state.
He alleged that while the government was busy painting schools green, there was a lack of sufficient teachers and students were unable to recognize the Odia alphabet.
He asked, “Adding a fresh coat of green color to the school building won’t yield results. Is this the vision of the government’s 5T initiative?”
It is notable here that under the 5T principle, the state government has been giving a major facelift to high schools in the state. The new buildings are all painted in green color.
Defending the move, BJD MLA Arun Sahu claimed that there was nothing wrong in using green in school uniforms as India’s national flag too has a green color.