ITDA apathy deprives students of hygiene

Adilabad: Owing to the inordinate delay of four months caused by the ITDA officials to call for tenders(which should have been done in September) for the supply of cosmetic products to 38,000 students of 125 satellite schools located in Adilabad, Kumrambheem, Mancheryal and Nirmal districts have been denied the products.

As the tenders were called only on December 3, the students have been forced either to take loans for buying the products, like soaps, oils, toothpastes, bindis and ribbons (for girls), or compelled to take money from their parents for this purpose.Students Sriram and Bheem Rao and Girijan Sangham leader Jaivanth Rao while speaking to The Hans India here on Wednesday, expressed anguish over the happenings in the schools, as the tenders for the supply of essential commodities have been called very late.

They pointed out that normally these tenders should be called once in three months. But this stipulation was not being followed by the ITDA officials, they lamented, The cosmetic products cost the department Rs. 1.2 crore in one year at the rate of Rs.30 lakh in three months.The students said that as most of them hail from poor families whose bread winners do odd jobs for earning their livelihood and they have no money to purchase the cosmetic products. As a result, they were being forced to go without the cosmetic products.
For instance, they are being forced to take bath without using soaps.

This, the students claimed, was resulting in skin diseases. They were also forced to brush their teeth without toothpaste, they lamented. In view of the hardships being faced by them, both the students and the Girijan Sangham leaders have demanded the ITDA officials to at least now supply the cosmetic products on time and mitigate their suffereings.