BBMP plans to DBT instead of distributing sweaters to school students

BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided that no sweaters will be given to students studying in its schools and colleges henceforth. Instead, the money will be transferred to the parents’ bank accounts this year.

The decision has been taken to curb financial irregularities and misuse of funds in distribution of sweaters. The officials have planned to transfer the amount directly to the parents’ bank account.

However, there has been widespread opposition to BBMP’s move to deposit the money into parents’ accounts without giving sweaters.

BBMP plans to directly transfer funds instead of distributing sweaters.

“We had called for a tender, but when we checked the documents, there was a lone bidder. According to the KTPP Act, if there is a single bidder, we are supposed to do a fresh tender. If there is lack of time, we have to cancel it and take further actions We have submitted a report. If we call for fresh tender, we need a minimum of one month’s time to finalise everything. Alternatives like the DBT option have been discussed now,” said D S Umesh, Assistant Commissioner (Education/Election), BBMP.

D S Umesh, Assistant Commissioner (Education/Election) BBMP.

“We have fixed the price at Rs 632 for two sweaters for nursery kids. By rounding off the figure, we have planned to transfer Rs 650 each to the parents. Around 25, 000 students need sweaters and the budget for the tender is around Rs 2 crore. We will transfer the money to the parents’ account if they are studying in nursery. We will enforce the rules for wearing the sweater. We had planned to buy brown-coloured sweaters for nursery, primary, and high school students and blue-coloured sweaters for PU and degree college students. We will instruct them to buy the same colour from the market.

“The sweaters were supposed to be distributed in August. It got delayed because no qualitative bidders came forward for the tender,” he added.