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Row over ‘green’ school uniforms in BJD-ruled Odisha
Though many parents and students expressed happiness on getting new sets of uniforms for free, the opposition said it was deliberate
A new directive by the Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government to introduce a new school uniform has come under a lot of fire from opposition parties after the design allegedly resembles the official colour of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), a move rival camps said has been done keeping in mind the state elections which are less than a year away.
The new uniform has been introduced for classes 9 and 10.
The circular from the directorate of secondary education has made it compulsory for boys to wear hunter green shirts and pants, and holy green coloured blazers and pants, from the current academic year in all schools.
The uniforms will be funded by a state scheme called ‘Mukhyamatri Chhatra Chhatri Paridhan Yojana’ and will entail an expenditure of ₹1,000 for two pairs of uniforms, a T-shirt and track suit, a pair of black shoes and two pairs of socks, per student.
“The district education officers will have to submit a certificate to the director of secondary education that all students have received the uniforms and shoes by July 15,” the circular read.
Though many parents and students expressed happiness on getting new sets of uniforms for free, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress said it was deliberate since it resembles BJD’s official colour.
“The BJD government has suddenly changed the colour of uniforms to green without discussing with anyone. The change has been done to influence young kids and their parents ahead of polls. Instead of such superficial changes, the government should have taken steps to improve the deteriorating quality of secondary education,” said Aparajita Sarangi, BJP leader and Member of Parliament from Bhubaneswar.
Bijay Kumar Patnaik, former chief secretary and now Odisha Congress campaign committee chairman, said the state government should have thought twice before using green in school uniforms as it has political connotations. “Everyone in Odisha knows that BJD is identified by the green colour, and so the government should have kept the schools above petty politics,” he said.
A similar controversy had broken out in March this year when leader of Opposition Jaynarayan Mishra alleged that the government was busy painting many schools in Odisha green when they did not have adequate teachers and the students failed to identify Odia alphabets. “Adding a fresh coat of green colour to the school building won’t yield results. Is this the vision of the government’s 5T initiative,” he asked.
BJD MLA Arun Sahu, however, said there was nothing wrong in using green in school uniform as India’s national flag too has the colour.
“Schools are getting transformed under 5T programme and are getting smart classrooms, e-library and laboratories. A new uniform would enthuse the children,” he said.
