Students studying at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools will finally get shoes, socks, tiffin boxes and water bottles this week. However, they will have to wait for umbrellas and raincoats till the second week of July. Civic officials said the delay was caused as the BMC couldn't get a response to its tender on time.
The BMC provides 27 items to every student at civic-run schools. All educational items are expected to reach the students on the first day of school. However, the distribution process has been delayed since the scheme was launched in 2007. All the civic-run schools started operations on June 13, but the students are yet to receive most of the articles.
At present 2.98 lakh students are studying in 1,100 civic-run schools. The BMC has made a provision of Rs 7 crore for the distribution of educational items such as books, raincoats, umbrellas, tiffin boxes, water bottles, shoes and socks, etc. This year the civic body decided to change the uniform and like the other articles, its distribution has also been delayed. The raincoats and umbrellas that are much needed in the rainy season will also be distributed in the second week of July, sources said.
“We have already distributed books to the students and they will start getting the remaining articles this week,” BMC's education officer, Rajesh Kankal said.
