LUCKNOW: The wait for new uniforms, shoes, socks, sweaters and school bags for 1.6 crore government school children in UP will be over soon as the UP government will formally launch the direct-benefit transfer (DBT) scheme before Diwali.
Under the DBT scheme, the government will transfer money for purchase of uniforms, sweaters, shoes, socks and school bags to the Aadhar seeded bank accounts of parents of students enrolled in state-run and aided schools from class 1 to 8 across the state.
Senior officials at the basic education department have sought approval from chief minister Yogi Adityanath to launch the DBT scheme on October 30. "The confirmation about the date is awaited from the CM office. The CM wants that money is sent to the beneficiaries before Diwali. We are expecting the launch by month end," said an official.
In the first phase, 1.2 crore students from different districts in UP will be benefitted. Officials said, verification of Aadhar seeded bank accounts of 1.2 crore parents have been done via the DBT mobile application. The data is now being uploaded on the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) after which it will be transferred to the beneficiaries. Verification exercise of the remaining 40,000 students is underway. The latest data shows 4,166 schools across the state have not even initiated the verification work for DBT scheme.
Aimed at eliminating middlemen and quality issues which erupt almost every year, the UP government in March decided to introduce DBT for purchase of uniforms, sweater, and shoes-socks from academic session 2021-22. So far, the education department disburses grants for uniforms to the school and the School Management Committees (SMC) comprising the school head teacher, guardians, local educationists and teachers helped in procurement. Since the process was sluggish, students either complained of late arrival of uniforms or poor quality. For remaining – shoes, socks and sweaters, and bag, tender is done at district level.
