Hyderabad: Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju on Friday directed district collectors to complete school uniform distribution for every student in government and residential schools within one month. He instructed officials to provide two sets of uniforms to each student in line with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s directions.
Sanjay Jaju issued the instructions during a video conference with district collectors from the State Secretariat. Besides reviewing the production and distribution of school uniforms, he discussed the State government’s contingency plan to tackle El Niño conditions.
Officials informed the meeting that they had identified 26,000 women from self-help groups to stitch the uniforms. Further, Sanjay Jaju instructed officials to maintain high quality standards for uniforms, shoes and other school kits supplied to students.
He also reminded officials about the Chief Minister’s directive to collect direct feedback from students on the quality of school kits. Accordingly, he instructed district collectors to form district and mandal-level monitoring committees and closely supervise the stitching and distribution process.
School uniform distribution and El Niño preparedness reviewed
Meanwhile, officials reported that Telangana had recorded a 27 per cent rainfall deficit this season. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Telangana was among the states most affected by El Niño.
Officials said only seven districts had received normal rainfall, while 385 mandals continued to face a rainfall deficit. In addition, they said the government regularly shared weather updates with farmers through WhatsApp.
Officials said Karnataka and Maharashtra had also received below-normal rainfall. Therefore, the government decided to conserve water in major reservoirs for drinking purposes.
They said paddy cultivation had covered less than 24 per cent of the expected area so far. Further, the IMD forecast below-normal rainfall during September.
Consequently, Sanjay Jaju directed officials to encourage farmers to shift from paddy to alternative crops covered under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. He also instructed them to take up farm pond construction on a large scale during the current season.
Additionally, the Chief Secretary directed district collectors to conduct mandal-level meetings once every 45 days. He asked the concerned departments to prepare action plans and monitor implementation regularly.
Special Chief Secretaries Sabyasachi Ghosh and Dana Kishore, Irrigation Secretary Sridhar, Agriculture Secretary Surendra Mohan, Director Gopi, Panchayat Raj Commissioner Divya and School Education Director Naveen Nicolas participated in the video conference.