Minister for Primary and Secondary Education B.C. Nagesh addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

Karnataka government has not yet taken any decision on distributing free bicycles and shoe and socks to the students in government schools, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education B.C. Nagesh has said.

Addressing presspersons after reviewing the progress of Public Instruction Department in Kalaburagi, Bidar and Yadgir here on Wednesday Mr. Nagesh said that the government will take call on continuing the free bicycle and shoe-socks district scheme launched by the then Congress government, only after talks with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Reacting to Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s statement that BJP government has failed to continue the free bicycle and shoe-socks distribution scheme as the State government is facing a funds crunch, Mr. Nagesh said that the BJP government’s top priority is to improve the quality of education rather than spend on other schemes. “We have allocated ₹156 crore for Kalika Chetarike programme to bridge the pandemic-induced learning gap among students.”

He also challenged Mr. Siddaramaiah to release a white paper on the schemes introduced for students during the Congress governance.

To overcome shortage of teachers, the government has appointed 27,000 guest teachers even before commencement of this academic year and also revised their honorarium, an amount of ₹2,500 per month has been increased for the guest teachers appointed at primary schools and ₹3,000 for guest teachers at high schools.

Replying to a question on the status of the Education department’s performance in the Kalyana Karnataka region, Mr. Nagesh expressed displeasure over the lack of coordination among officials in the public instruction department.

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Printable version | Jul 6, 2022 9:53:09 pm | https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/no-decision-on-free-bicycle-shoe-socks-distribution-in-schools-yet/article65608149.ece