Scheme of Free Supply of Textbooks, Stationery, Uniforms and Footwears to Poor Children

What is the Free Supply Scheme in Puducherry?

The Scheme of Free Supply of Textbooks, Stationery, Uniforms and Footwears to Poor Children is the Directorate of School Education, Government of Puducherry's universal in-kind support programme for school students. It supplies textbooks, note books, uniforms, footwear, dictionaries, stationery and other items free of cost to every student from LKG to class XII in all government and government-aided private schools across the Union Territory.

According to the Directorate, the Government of Puducherry attaches "utmost importance" to achieving 100 per cent enrolment and retention of children in government schools without dropouts, and the free supply is the principal instrument for that goal, particularly for children in the 6 to 14 age group covered by the right to free and compulsory education.

The scheme is administered by the Deputy Director (Elementary Education) within the Directorate. Unlike the Directorate's scholarships, which are handled by the Senior Accounts Officer and the Joint Director (Higher Secondary) and turn on income, caste or merit, the free supply has no income ceiling and no merit test. Enrolment in a qualifying school is the whole of the eligibility.

What items does a student receive free of cost?

The Directorate publishes a fifteen-item list of free supply items with the standards covered:

Two entries in that list are worth drawing out. The umbrella in class I is a small but practical item in a coastal territory with a long monsoon, and it is issued at the point where children first walk to school on their own. The laptop for class XII passouts is by a wide margin the most valuable item in the scheme and is issued at the point of transition to higher education or work.

Alongside the free supply, the Government of Puducherry has run Students Special Buses at a concessional rate of Re 1 per trip since 26 January 2010, for all students of government, government-aided and private schools and colleges. The Directorate records 40 buses for school students and 15 buses for college students plying in the Puducherry region, and 10 buses for school students and 5 buses for college students in the Karaikal region.

Who is eligible for the free supply?

A student receives the free supply if:

• The student is studying in LKG to class XII in a government school or a government-aided private school in any region of the Union Territory of Puducherry; Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam.
• The student is enrolled and on the rolls of that school for the academic year.

That is the whole test. The Directorate states expressly that students are eligible "irrespective of the annual parental income ceiling limit", so no income certificate is called for and no BPL status has to be proved, despite the scheme's title referring to poor children.

A student is not eligible and cannot claim the free supply if:

• The student studies in a private unaided school, which is outside the scheme. Such students remain eligible for the Re 1 per trip bus concession, which covers private schools and colleges as well.
• The student studies in a school outside the Union Territory of Puducherry, even if resident in Puducherry.
• The student is in a course above class XII. College students are covered by the Directorate's post-matric scholarship and by the bus concession, not by the free supply of school items.
• The student has left the school rolls, since the indent for supplies is built from enrolment.

There is no exclusion by caste, religion, income or academic performance. A Scheduled Caste student in a government school receives the free supply and, separately, the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department's pre-matric scholarship of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 a year. The two do not conflict.

What documents are required?

How to apply for and collect the free supply items

1. Enrol the child in a government or government-aided private school in the Union Territory of Puducherry. Admission to the school is the only step that creates the entitlement; there is no separate scheme application.
2. Confirm the child's name is on the school's indent for the academic year. Schools prepare an indent of students by class before the distribution, and a child admitted late in the cycle can be missed.
3. Collect the items from the school at the distribution, which is normally made at or near the start of the academic year. Uniforms, textbooks, note books and footwear are handed over by the school, not by any department office.
4. Check the class-specific items against the Directorate's list. A dictionary in class VIII, a geometry box in classes IV and VI, an atlas in class VI, an umbrella in class I, and raise any shortfall with the head of the institution at the time of distribution rather than months later.
5. For a class XII passout laptop, follow the school's or the Directorate's announcement after the results, since it is issued at the point of passing out.

What to do if a student does not receive the items

• Speak to the head of the institution first. The most common reason a child is missed is a mid-year admission after the school's indent was submitted. A transfer certificate and a written request to the head of the institution usually resolves it.
• Check the size and quantity at the point of distribution. Uniform sizes and the count of note books to 5 for classes I to V and 10 for classes VI to XII, should be verified before the queue moves on.
• Escalate to the Directorate of School Education on 0413-2207202 or at dse-edn@py.gov.in if the school cannot supply an item.
• Never pay for the items. The scheme is free of cost. No school, teacher, parent-teacher association or vendor may charge a parent for the uniform, textbooks, footwear or stationery supplied under it, and a demand for payment should be reported to the Directorate.

How the free supply fits with the rest of the Directorate's programme

The free supply is the base layer of support. On top of it the Directorate of School Education runs a set of cash scholarships that a family should check separately.

Under the Joint Director (Higher Secondary), the Directorate pays the examination fees of students appearing for public examinations, gives the Cash Award to Top Ranking Holders in Public Examinations at Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 for the first three ranks in each region and school category, and administers the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme and support for NTS awardees.

Under the Senior Accounts Officer, it runs the Puducherry State Post Matric Scholarship Scheme, the Pre-Matric Scholarship to Other Economically Backward Class Students, the Award of Scholarships to Outstanding NCC Cadets at Rs 500 a month for senior division and Rs 250 a month for junior division cadets, the Attendance Scholarship to Girl Students in the Middle Stage of Education at Rs 200 a year for girls with 97 per cent attendance, a Rs 20,000 a year scholarship for Puducherry cadets at the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, a scholarship for Puducherry students at Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar, and a scholarship for children who win the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievements or other national and international merit awards.

Families in specific categories have further routes. The Adi Dravidar Welfare Department pays Scheduled Caste students a pre-matric scholarship of Rs 1,500 a year in classes VI to VIII and Rs 2,500 a year in classes IX and X, an opportunity cost payment of Rs 3,000 per academic year to the parents of SC girl students in classes VI to XII, and a stipend to SC trainees in government technical training institutions. The Department of Sainik Welfare pays tuition fee reimbursement, book allowance and uniform allowance to the wards of registered ex-servicemen and widows.

Where to raise a grievance

Complaints about non-supply, short supply or a demand for payment go to the Directorate of School Education, Government of Puducherry on 0413-2207202 or by email at dse-edn@py.gov.in. The Web Information Manager for the Directorate's website is the Director of School Education.

The free supply carries no application fee and no charge of any kind.