"Shame on State": Karnataka High Court on failure to give two sets of uniform to government school students

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday took strong exception to the delay by the State government in implementing the Court's 2019 directive to the State to freely provide two sets of uniforms, shoes and socks to elementary school students in government-run schools..A bench of Justices B Veerappa and KS Hemalekha was dealing with a contempt petition filed against the State’s failure to properly comply with the High Court’s 2019 order which had ruled that giving two sets of uniforms was provided for under the Right to Education Act, 2009.Justice Veerappa orally observed that such a lapse is a matter of shame for the government. “To play with the children is to play with the Court ... Spending for unnecessary things [in] crores - crores! Education is your fundamental duty! ... Sir, the children’s plight … education ... we will not tolerate these things… Is this not a shame on the State government? ... This is unfortunate”, he said during the course of the hearing..The Court also expressed anguish over the apparent step-motherly treatment meted out to government school students, when compared to students who can afford to go to private schools.“If the people sitting on the chairs, if they don’t have humanity, this is all a problem. They should have humanity. Their children never go to government schools … We will not tolerate this type of stepmother attitude to the children,” Justice Veerappa remarked.The Court further took critical note that a government order passed in June 2021 only provided for giving one set of uniforms to government school students.An affidavit filed by a State authority disclosed that money had been transferred for the purchase of uniforms, socks, and shoes to the school headmasters concerned. The Court recorded the same in its order, but raised concern that this would not ensure that such funds actually reached the beneficiaries, i.e. the students. During the hearing, the bench queried if any authority has been designated to monitor the matter. In its order, the Court ultimately opined that there is no clarity in the said affidavit on whether the State has strictly complied with the High Court’s earlier directions.“God only knows whether it really reached the beneficiaries, the students and fulfilled the objects of the provisions of the RTE Act,” the Court commented..The bench went on to emphasise that it is high time that the State open its eyes and implement its fundamental duty to provide school uniforms to government school students aged between 6 to 14 years. This duty has been laid down in Section 3 of the RTE Act and Articles 21A and 45 of the Constitution of India (dealing with free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6-14 years), the Court noted..The Court further recorded that the State counsel had sought some more time to file a detailed affidavit indicating the implementation of the Court’s orders in its true spirit. The request was acceded to and the matter adjourned, but not before the Court warned that it would impose costs if the State’s apparent lapses were to continue.“… further time is given to State, failing which the officer concerned shall be present before this court to pay the charge,” the Court cautioned..The case concerns the implementation of a 2019 order passed by a Chief Justice-led bench of the High Court, wherein two months was given to the State to provide two sets of uniforms to students pursuing elementary education in government schools. The order was passed in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition moved by a class III government school student, through his father. [Master Manjnath v. Union of India and ors].The Court, in that case, had concluded that the duty to provide uniforms is inherent under Section 3 of the RTE Act, and also noted that Rule 5 of the State’s Rules also acknowledged this duty. .Notably, the Court had also observed that it is not sufficient to simply provide one set of uniform to the students as the State cannot expect children to wear one set of uniform throughout the week.“Apart from being arbitrary and irrational, it will be totally unhygienic. Moreover, due to the failure of the State to provide the second set of uniform, the parents or students may be forced to pay for the second uniform. This will be in violation of the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21-A of the Constitution of India and also in violation of sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the RTE Act as well as Rule 5 of the State Rules. There is enough indication in Rule 5 of the State Rules about the entitlement of students to more than one set of uniforms and not merely to one set of uniform,” the Court had observed..[Read 2019 Karnataka High Court Judgment]