With a view to bringing smiles on the faces of children, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to give an additional amount of Rs 100 for purchase of stationery for the students of state-run basic schools besides Rs 1,100 for purchase of uniform and school bags.
The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“The Yogi cabinet has approved the proposal of the Basic Education department to give Rs 1,200 instead of Rs 1,100 to students. The additional Rs 100 is for purchase of stationery. The payment will be made through DBT into the accounts of the parents/guardians,” a government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Till now, the state government used to give Rs 600 for two pairs of uniforms, Rs 175 for school bags, Rs 125 for shoes & socks, and Rs 200 for sweaters to students every year.
“With Rs 100 given by the state government through DBT, the students will be able to buy four notebooks, two pens, two pencils, two erasers and two sharpeners,” the spokesman said.
Under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the government has made a provision of 166 crore for the stationery of children in the state budget 2022-23. Apart from this, the government has made a provision of about Rs 2,200 crore for the uniform, shoes/stockings and sweaters for the students.
There is a provision to provide free uniforms to the students of classes 1-8. The number of beneficiaries in 2021-22 will be 1,56,28,121. The target is to benefit 2 crore students in the academic year 2022-2023.
In another decision, the cabinet approved the proposal regarding strengthening of the village secretariat. Under the new provisions, panchayat assistants will be appointed who will work in gram panchayats and provide e-services to the villagers.
“All the services provided through Jan Seva Kendras/e-District Portal will be provided by the IT and Electronics department. It will be a paid service. The user charges received by the Jan Seva Kendra operators will be deposited in the accounts of the gram panchayats which, in turn, will increase their income,” the spokesman said.
Village secretariats are being established in all the 58,189 gram panchayats. Panchayat assistants will be appointed in all these gram panchayats so that the village secretariat can run smoothly. So far, 56,366 panchayat assistants have been selected, trained and put on the job.
“Computers and internet connectivity are being provided to the gram panchayat secretariats by the state government. Arrangements will be made so that the villagers can get the necessary records/certificates through the panchayat assistants,” he said.
The cabinet also approved a proposal of the MSME department to purchase 2 crore national flags from the MSME units for the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Panchayati Raj and Urban Development departments will provide funds for the purchase of flags.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, a target has been set to unfurl about 4.5 crore national flags under the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign between August 11 and 17.
Two crore national flags will be purchased from the MSME department while the remaining from various self-help groups, voluntary organisations and private centres.