Rs 75L provided for procuring sports items in govt schools

The Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad has provided a budget of Rs 74.85 lakh for sports equipment to be purchased for government schools in the district. However, the utilisation of funds by March end is going to be a tricky task as the equipment is to be procured at school level by March 31.

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As per the data obtained, there are 764 government schools (478 primary schools, 137 upper primary schools, 61 secondary schools and 88 senior secondary schools) in the district, and they have been allocated Rs 74.85 lakh for the procurement of sports items under the Samagra Shiksha for the financial year 2024-25.

While the government primary schools have been given a budget of Rs 5,000 each, the upper primary schools will have Rs 10,000 each and the secondary schools and senior secondary schools have been provided a budget of Rs 25,000 each.

As per information, the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad had informed the district project coordinators about the administrative and financial sanction of the budget for procurement of sports items and also directed them to constitute committees at the school level for the procurement of sports items. The committees comprise the chairperson of the school management committee, school head, sarpanch or councillor, one SMC member having sports background, assistant education officer and physical education teacher.

The government teacher union has welcomed the decision of providing funds, but raised concerns over the limited number of days available for procurement. The budget was reportedly provided a week ago.

Amit Chhabra, state spokesman of the Rajkiya Prathmik Adhyapak Sangh, said, “It is a good initiative by the government and the department to provide funds to the schools to procure sports equipment as per the requirement of the schools. But hardly a few days have been given to the committees to procure the items. For the procurement of sports items to be carried out in a smooth manner and to ensure quality at good prices, at least one month should have been given to the committees to compare the prices and quality of the items. Now with limited days in hand, the committee may make procurement in haste or else the funds may lapse.”

However, District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) Sudhir Kalra, who also holds the charge of DPC in Ambala, said, “For the first time, a budget has been released and the committees have been given the liberty to purchase sports equipment as per requirement. In case a school doesn’t have the ground facility then the committee can purchase indoor games for students. The school management committees were timely informed about the budget to be distributed and we are hopeful that the committee will make the procurement and submit their utilisation certificates.”