The Hindu : New Delhi News : Opposition blasts Congress over school jersey issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 09, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Opposition blasts Congress over school jersey issue

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC. 8. With the Municipal Corporation of Delhi repeatedly failing to meet its extended deadline for distributing jerseys among students of its primary schools, the Leader of Opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Subhash Arya, today demanded resignation of the Standing Committee Chairman, Mukesh Goel.

As of now, not a single jersey has been distributed to the targeted 3,82 lakh students of the municipal primary schools, he alleged. Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Arya said the initial deadline for distributing jerseys was October 2 that was subsequently extended several times to December 8.

"So far the MCD has received just 30,00 jerseys from the manufacturers and that too are in its stores. This only reflects that the ruling Congress is least bothered about poor students who study in our schools," he said.

"Had the Congress leadership been concerned about the welfare of the poor and needy, jerseys would have been distributed much before the arrival of winter," Mr. Arya said. He said the faulty purchase policies of the MCD were responsible for the present situation. "The orders were placed with those companies, which did not had the necessary infrastructure and capacity to manufacture such a large number of jerseys," he said.

Mr. Arya demanded that from next year the process of purchasing jerseys should start during the summer months, given the delaying tactics adopted by the bureaucracy in such purchase policies.

Holding Mr. Goel responsible for this lapse as he was not assertive enough to ensure that the students got jerseys in time for the winter months, Mr. Arya demanded the resignation of the Standing Committee Chairman on moral grounds.

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