As per the latest Government Resolution (GR) issued by the school education department on Wednesday, the SMCs will decide on the colour and design of the uniform along with stitching and distribution.
The new policy reinstates the previous practice followed for several years before the concept of centralised uniform was introduced in the academic year 2024-25.
Government school students across Maharashtra are given free uniforms under the scheme jointly run by the Central Government-funded Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the state government.
“It is decided that its implementation should once again be taken care of by the School Management Committees (SMCs), as was done previously. Timely funds will be provided for the same. The SMCs should approve the colour and design of the uniform.
“If any school offers ‘scout and guide’ as a subject, their respective SMC should decide on the uniforms to be used for those days based on the colour scheme prescribed by the Scout and Guide organisation,” states the GR.
The GR also said that local education officers and other representatives would carry out random inspections of the uniforms distributed at schools to ensure their quality. If any substandard fabric is found during these inspections, the responsible School Management Committee (SMC) will be held accountable.
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The ‘one state, one uniform’ policy was announced last year in December by the then-school education minister Deepak Kesarkar.
Controversies started when there were delays in the distribution of uniforms. Standards of fabric used, stitches, and size errors were also major issues.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
