A Class 4 student, frustrated with the failure of govt

A class 4 student, frustrated with the failure of a government scheme, brought up the matter in the Karnataka High Court.

Manjunath Devappa Harijan is studying at a government school in a village in Kopal district, Karnataka. He wanted a second school uniform set and so, spoke to authorities at his school several times since last year. However, he was not able to get a second uniform.

He then asked his father Devappa Harijan, a child rights activist, about filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the government and school for not following through on what was promised.

"With great difficulty, my parents managed to get me a spare set, but they can't afford this year or every year from now on," Manjunath said in a TOI report. "My teachers assured me a second pair if the government distributed the uniform. That's when I asked my parents about exploring options of lodging a complaint with police over the government and school going back on its promise. Later, I learnt about a public interest litigation."

Students of the government school should receive school uniforms under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The State Government distributes funds for two sets of uniforms and the Central Government gives funds to SC/ST students for stitching uniforms for 39 lakh students, according to sources.

The students had earlier received a second set of uniforms in June or July, within weeks of the schools reopening after vacation under the scheme. This year, even Karnataka's caretaker Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had asked education department officials to distribute the second set of uniforms as an urgent matter, during a visit to Kalaburagi.

Despite this instruction, education department sources said that the government had stopped the release of funds to buy the second set of uniforms and was involved in a blame game with the Central Government.