The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday informed that the state government had distributed uniforms worth Rs 351 crore to students when schools were shut during the COVID-19 pandemic. School uniforms were distributed to over 1.17 crore students across 50 districts of the state in the financial year 2020-21, School Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar stated in a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Panchilal Meda.

No data was provided for Mandsaur and Ratlam districts. The Congress legislator has sought information about the distribution of uniforms when students were studying at home as schools were shut during the pandemic. Meda also demanded a high-level inquiry into the distribution work alleging rampant irregularities. In his reply, the school education minister said that “radio school” (online) was started for students of Classes 1 to 8, while those in Classes 9 to 12 were studying under Hamara Ghar Hamara Vidyalaya (our home is our school) plan.

Parmar said that self-help groups (SHGs) had made these uniforms and the same were distributed through the school management committee in compliance with the COVID-19 protocol. Rejecting the demand for a high-level inquiry into the matter, the minister said any complaint received in this regard will be looked into by the department controlling SHGs.

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