Govt uses tech to plug leaks in free shoes, socks scheme

The state government is taking the help of technology to plug leakages in the supply of free shoes and socks for government schoolchildren, two years after the populist scheme was rolled out.

As many as 46 lakh children studying in Classes I to X at government schools will receive one pair of shoes and two pairs of socks this academic year. Although Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the scheme in the 2015-16 budget, it was first implemented in the 2016-17 academic year.

The scheme’s maiden implementation gave authorities enough reason to put in place an online portal to monitor the process this time. The “incentive monitoring” software developed by the Department of Public Instruction will be used to record details of every pair of shoes and socks purchased. Specifically, officials are expected to key in details of the number of boys and girls studying in each class and upload scanned copies of quotations provided by vendors. Any disparity in information will lead to action against the officials concerned, a circular has warned.

“There have been complaints and anecdotal instances of shoes and socks being wrongly distributed,” additional chief secretary (primary and secondary education) Ajay Seth said. “In the first year, money was released to schools in January 2016 and the purchase of shoes and socks continued till October. There was no way of knowing what was purchased when. This online portal will build capacity to know what’s happening.”

Funds are released directly to the School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC) — a body comprising parents and teachers — in each government school. This year, the government has earmarked Rs 265 per child (Class I o V), Rs 295 (Class VI to VIII) and Rs 325 (Class IX to X).

“Some bogus bills were submitted last year. So this time, we have asked officials to upload quotations along with bill number and the vendor’s Tax Payer Identification (TIN) number,” Director of Public Instruction (primary education) B K Basavaraju said. “We also hope the online system will prevent delays in the process.”

This is not the first time the government is relying on technology to streamline processes in the education sector. Last year, an SMS-based monitoring system was rolled out for the midday meals scheme, where teachers send a text message on how many children were served meals and the information gets recorded on a central server. Even teachers’ transfers and applications to start new schools have gone online. Karnataka is among the few states to start a Student Tracking System, under which a unique number is issued to every student to track their educational progress.