Students get double aid for purchase of books

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 25 MAY: A section of students in secondary schools of this district have been receiving ‘double’ financial assistance for buying textbooks from two government departments.

The headmasters allegedly have been disbursing funds for book grants received from the SSA (Sarba Shiksha Abhijan) and the BCW (Backward Class Welfare) department owing to the lack of a specific guideline from the education department.

The district education department in Malda had detected the ‘double payment’ problem but failed to check the misuse of government funds.

The district inspector of schools in Malda, Mr Chinmay Sarkar, admitted to the problem: “A section of students belonging to the backward classes are receiving double payment here. To check this practice we will point out the matter at a meeting convened by the state SSA project director Mr Manish Jain to be held tomorrow in Kolkata.”

The district project officer of BCW Mr Sadhan Kurmar Das said: “The headmasters will be held responsible for the ‘double payment’ and disbursement of funds because they have a list of students who should get financial assistance from the BCW department. A student cannot receive financial assistance from two government departments for the same purpose.”

It may be noted that the BCW department provides funds to students belonging to the SC, ST and other backward classes for buying books, through the headmasters. The BCW department selects students whose family income is less than Rs 36,000 per year. The BCW department allots Rs 20 per student of class V per year. For class VI, Rs 150 is allotted per year; Rs 200 for class VII; Rs 280 for VIII, and Rs 500 for class XI.

Earlier, the SSA used to allot TBG (text book grant) funds only to girls and then extended the funds to SC, ST and Minority students. The students belonging to the general category had previously been deprived of the book grant funds. The SSA now allots Rs 250 (on average) in TBG funds for all students, regardless of categorisation, including the general category students.

Though there is a government order stating that the school authorities must procure textbooks and distribute them among the students, some school authorities - just to avoid the extra job - are distributing the money directly to the students or their guardians. Some schools are keeping back some of the money, and not giving out the full Rs 250 per student per year.

The matter came to light after students and their guardians agitated, pointing out that by government order students should have been receiving Rs 250 per student from the SSA, while the school authorities were only giving out TBG funds of around Rs 120 to Rs 150 per student.

When asked, the DI Mr Chinmay Sarkar said: “We have allotted Rs 250 per student on the enrolment list sent by the school authorities last September. We have specifically asked the school authorities to procure textbooks for distribution. In fact, buying books rather than giving out money leaves schools with spare funds on their hands, as the actual cost of textbooks for class VI is Rs 180, for class VII Rs 230, and for class VII Rs 240.”

“Many reputed schools in Malda town have procured textbooks and distributed them among students. However, despite the government order, a section of school authorities did not follow instructions. Some schools have even bought extra reference books for their libraries with the TBG funds they've held back,” Mr Sarkar added.