Tamil Nadu: Govt HMs forced to accept pricey sanitary goods

TENKASI: The headmasters of various government schools in the district are in a fix as they claim they were forced to accept delivery of consignments of cleaning supplies worth thousands of rupees. The delivery persons had also allegedly told them they have to foot the bill from the school grant being given by the government.

An HM of a government middle school in Alangulam block said despite his opposition, some unknown persons had delivered two bleaching powder bags that weigh 25 kg each, three phenyl cans, a five-litre-can of toilet bowl cleaner, five brooms, three mini buckets and three mugs at his school. “He also gave me a bill for Rs 5,299. The bill was issued by a Karur-based company MANKAI TEX. I have neither heard about the company nor interacted with their staff earlier. A delivery person told me chief educational officer Kabeer had asked him to drop these items at government schools,” he said.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, HMs of a government higher secondary school (GHSS) and the primary school confirmed the delivery executives dropped some disinfectants at their schools also and gave them bills for Rs 9,900 and Rs 2,615 respectively. An HM of a school said it is not the first time that such an incident is happening. “I had received a consignment earlier during the pandemic when AIADMK was in power. At that time, an official threatened me to give a cheque to a company for Rs 11,000 from my school grant. We fear this will repeat again,” he said.  

When contacted, the chief educational officer said he is unaware of the delivery of the disinfectants and that he would check. A teacher pointed out the prices of the items are inflated in the bill. “The bill says the price of the 25-kg bleaching powder is Rs 1,874. However, the bag of the same brand cost from Rs 620 to Rs 800 only in the market,” he said. 

An HM of a high school said the authorities of the block resource centre gave the HMs an oral instruction that they should not spend the grant amount without their permission. “While the School Education Department declared dates for the public exam for some classes, we are not allowed to spend even a single rupee from our grant amount this financial year. Last year, we were forced to purchase science lab materials and disinfectants, already available,” he added.