6,000 civic school students in Kausa get raincoats. But where’s the rain?

THANE: Monsoons are practically over and even the IMD department has now declared the end of the rains. However, over 1,000 students of 13 civic schools in Mumbra’s Kausa area were given their raincoats on Thursday by the Thane Municipal Corporation.
This issue came to light when NCP corporator Hira Patil noticed a consignment of raincoats being delivered to the complex in Kausa which houses 13 schools and around 6,000 students.
“These raincoats are part of the 13 compulsory items these students have to get, alongside midday meals, notebooks and school uniforms. These items are supposed to encourage students to come to school as they otherwise don’t have the finances to buy their own rainwear, school wear and end up begging or doing odd jobs for money. It is shocking that despite the passing of the tender, these students weren’t given their rightful facilities,” Patil said.
Asserting that this delay which is repeated every year reveals the height of corruption the NCP corporator added, “Every year, the corporation spends lakhs of rupees on these facilities. And every year the students get it after the season. It makes one wonder whether they are buying it during the non-peak season and pocketing the differences. I will discuss about the issue with my political party and see what can be done about it.”
The officials from the education department of the corporation, however, claimed that this delayed stock of raincoats was a small fraction of the lot which was already given to the students before the monsoons and was actually returned back due to size issues.
“We had placed an order for 30,000 raincoats to meet the requirements of all the civic school students. All of these were given before the monsoons itself. However, around 1,200 to 1,500 students had some issues with how it fit them, and returned it. Remaking a new batch of raincoats for this lot got a little delayed on the side of the manufacturer. Often a lot of delays take place because of the series of quality checks the items have to go through before being used by the students,” said Manish Joshi, additional municipal commissioner, TMC.
The corporation has spent a sum of Rs 70 to 80 lakhs on the provision of raincoats for their students this year.