Relief as Maha yanks off diktat

Mumbai: Providing a huge relief, the Maharashtra government has yanked off the contentious ‘One State, One Uniform’ policy for schools in the state, earning pats from academics and parents alike.

The state education department has announced that the local School Management Committee (SMCs) shall now decide the colour combination and designs for the children attending their schools.

The move has been welcomed by school associations and parents alike, with demands for more reliefs to over 10-lakh students who have secured admissions under the RTE Act in the state.

In its fresh GR, the education department has allowed the SMCs to decide on the colour-design, stitching-distribution of uniforms for their respective schools as per the prescribed policy, as it was done earlier for decades.

Last December 2024, the government had mandated the SMCs to manage the process locally without changing the colour-design of the uniforms, as per the policy that was implemented in the current (2024-2025) academic year.

The students attending government schools in the state are entitled to free uniform sets under the state-centre’s jointly-funded Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

The GR has cleared the path for the SMCs to continue the process as before for which funds shall be provided on time for the regular uniforms as the Scouts & Guides uniforms, ensuring good quality fabric that is not fully polyester and doesn’t cause health problems to the pupils.

It has warned of surprise checks on the quality of the uniform, and in case quality defects are detected, the SMC shall be accountable.

Flawed policy

Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) Founder-President Sanjay Tayade-Patil said that the policy (initiated by former school education minister Deepak Kesarkar) was flawed, bypassing other more important requirements.

“Economically backward students admitted under the RTE policy are not getting free uniforms, books, shoes and other requirements, in many schools they are also deprived of the midday meal schemes. The government should takle this discrimination on priority,” Tayade-Patil told ‘The Perfect Voice’.

A school Trustee, requesting anonymity said that many schools did not get the promised uniforms till the Diwali vacation and students had to make do with whatever was available, besides widespread complaints on the fabric quality, poor stitching, uneven size, rendering them virtually un-wearable.

Welcome decision

A Mumbai housewife, Neelama Joshi, whose two minor children attend a Marathi aided school, expressed a similar grouse, saying she was forced to stitch and re-stitch her kids’ uniforms almost every fortnight, and the fabric would easily tear.

Other bodies like the Maharashtra School Principals Association, Maharashtra State Primary Teachers Association, Maharashtra Unaided Schools Association have hailed the government’s move saying it will restore the autonomy of the educational institutions.

“This would also bring back the unique ‘uniform identity’ of the children of the respective schools, particularly in areas where there are clusters of such educational institutions, help the school-bus drivers and parents distinguish their kids by their uniforms,” said a retired school headmistress, Usha S. N. of Goregaon.