Bhubaneswar: The State Government has decided to change the colour of the uniform of high school students from white-blue to white-hunter green.
While many parents and students expressed happiness on getting new sets of uniforms for free, the opposition alleged that the design resembles the official colour of the BJD and it is a deliberate move by the Governing party keeping in mind the state elections which are less than a year away.
Both BJP and Congress parties questioned the choice of colour and alleged that it was an attempt to influence the minds of students and parents. The hunter green resembles the colour of the ruling BJD which is used in its flag and background, they alleged.
The State Government said that students of Class IX and X in all government and government-aided high schools would be provided with white and hunter green shirts in stripes, pants and green blazers respectively under ‘Mukhymantri Chhatra Chatri Paridhan Yojana’.
“The BJD government has suddenly changed the colour of uniforms to green without discussing with anyone. The change has been done to influence young kids and their parents ahead of polls. Instead of such superficial changes, the government should have taken steps to improve the deteriorating quality of secondary education,” said BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi.
Taking to Twitter, BJP MLA Suryabanshi Suraj said, “…Is the state government not indirectly drawing school children towards party ideology?”
Suraj pointed out that schools have also been painted in green colour.
The Dhamnagar MLA also said that Odisha receives an annual grant of Rs 240 crore for school uniforms under ‘Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan’.
“Now, the Central funds are being diverted to Mukhymantri Chhatra Chatri Paridhan Yojana,” he alleged.
OPCC Campaign Committee chief and senior Congress leader Bijay Kumar Patnaik also denounced the Government’s plan to change the colour of school uniform.
“The state government should have thought twice before using green as it has political connotations. The ruling party is largely identified with green colour. The Government should have kept schools above petty politics,” Patnaik said.
Reacting on this issue, BJD spokesperson Goutam Buddha Das said the national flag also has green colour. Those, who have made sacrifices for the country, have selected green in the flag as the colour of progress.
However, BJP MLA Suryabanshi is only playing politics as he cannot understand its importance, he said.