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Indian Express
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Why Andhra Pradesh has named a scheme for schoolkids after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
The Telugu Desam Party-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh has launched a scheme to provide kits to school children. The scheme has been named the 'Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyarthi Mitra Kits'. The government has said that in choosing the name of the former President, academician and philosopher, it is bucking the trend of naming schemes for schoolchildren after political leaders, and wants to keep students above politics. Radhakrishnan served as the country's second President, from 1962 to 1967. His birthday on September 5 is observed as Teachers' Day. The state government is providing schools kits to over 35 lakh school-going students free of cost. The government spent Rs 953 crore to procure the kits. The Quality Council of India (QCI) partnered with the government to conduct three-layer quality checks on all the materials used in the making of the kits, officials said. Designed to ensure an equal start for every student, the kits include uniforms, shoes, belts, socks, school bags, textbooks, notebooks, workbooks, and Oxford dictionaries. The government has also borne the stitching charges — Rs 120 for Classes 1–8 and Rs 240 for Classes 9–10 — ensuring uniforms are ready to wear. With a total budget of Rs 953.71 crore — Rs 778.68 crore from the state and Rs 175.03 crore from the Centre — each kit is valued at approximately Rs 2,279. HRD and IT Minister N Lokesh Naidu said that under the previous YSRCP regime, the kits were branded as Jagananna Vidya Kanuka and featured images of the then Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. This was widely criticised for exposing schoolchildren to political influence and using government material to do political publicity, he said. The current kits are free from any political colors, symbols, or logos. What is inside the kit? Each student receives: 1. Three sets of uniforms in new colors (olive green pants/gowns and light yellow-green striped shirts) 2. One pair of shoes, two pairs of socks, a belt, and a school bag 3. Textbooks, workbooks, and notebooks 4. An Oxford English-English-Telugu Dictionary for Class 6 students 5. Pictorial dictionaries for Class 1 students 6. Dictionaries in regional/minority languages like Urdu, Tamil, and Odia where needed.
New Indian Express
06-07-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Transparency saves Rs 63.80 crore in Vidyarthi Mitra
VIJAYAWADA: The State government has saved Rs 63.80 crore through transparent tendering and three-tier quality check system in implementing the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyarthi Mitra (SRKVM) student kit scheme for the academic year 2025-26. At the initiative of HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, for the first time in the State, the Quality Council of India (QCI) was brought on board to monitor and certify the quality of each item under the Vidyarthi Mitra scheme. The inspection was carried out at three phases, which included verification of raw material, monitoring during production, and final inspection of finished products before dispatch to schools. The government had floated tenders worth Rs 676.15 crore (ECV), and received bids for Rs 612.35 crore, resulting in a saving of Rs 63.80 crore. The entire process was conducted through the AP e-procurement platform to ensure transparency and competition. To create awareness among beneficiaries about the quality of kits, 'Quality Walls' were set up at mandal stock points displaying all items. Students, parents, and teachers could directly inspect the kits, and provide feedback. Under the Vidyarthi Mitra, 35.94 lakh students from Class 1 to 10 in government and aided schools are receiving kits worth Rs 2,279 each. The total allocation for the scheme stood at Rs 953.71 crore. Of the total sum, the State's spending was Rs 778.68 crore, while the Centre's contribution was Rs 175.03 crore.
Hans India
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
35 lakh school students to receive ‘Vidyarthi Mitra' kits
Vijayawada: The state government has undertaken an extensive exercise of distributing student kits called 'Vidyarthi Mitra kits' at a cost of Rs 953 crore to over 35 lakh students. To ensure the highest standards of quality, all materials provided to students have undergone a rigorous three-layer quality check by the Quality Council of India (QCI) before distribution. For the first time, the state has partnered with the QCI to conduct three-stage quality checks, covering raw materials, final production and packaging. Only those products that passed all stages were dispatched to schools. To ensure transparency, 'Quality Walls' have been set up at mandal stock points to test and display the kit items. Government school students across the state are stepping into the new academic year with pride and confidence, thanks to the distribution of the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyarthi Mitra kits. Spearheaded by education minister Nara Lokesh, the initiative has brought a fresh look to classrooms, along with renewed energy and enthusiasm among students. Designed to ensure an equal start for every student, the kits include uniforms, shoes, belts, socks, school bags, textbooks, notebooks, workbooks, and Oxford dictionaries — all of high quality and presented in attractive, student-friendly colors. Significantly, this is the first time that government-provided kits are free from political branding. The kits have been renamed after India's second President, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Under the previous YSRCP government, the kits were branded as Jagananna Vidya Kanuka and featured images of the then chief minister. This was widely criticised for exposing schoolchildren to political influence and using government material to do political publicity. This year, the government has distributed these kits to over 35.94 lakh students from Classes 1 to 10 across government and aided schools. With a total budget of Rs 953.71 crore — Rs 778.68 crore from the state and Rs 175.03 crore from the Centre — each kit is valued at approximately 2,279. The government has also borne the stitching charges — Rs 120 for Classes 1–8 and Rs 240 for Classes 9–10 — ensuring uniforms are ready to wear. As part of the initiative each student received three sets of uniform cloth in new colours (olive green pants/gowns and light yellow-green striped shirts), one pair of shoes, two pairs of socks, a belt, and a school bag, textbooks, workbooks, and notebooks, an Oxford English-English-Telugu dictionary for Class 6 students, pictorial dictionaries for Class 1 students and dictionaries in regional/minority languages like Urdu, Tamil, and Odia where needed With transparent online tenders through the e-procurement system, the government saved Rs 63.80 crore compared to previous years.
Hans India
09-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Quality Council of India launches revamped portal for MSMEs
The Quality Council of India (QCI), the national custodian of accreditation in the country, commemorated World Accreditation Day 2025 here on Monday with the launch of revamped portal of the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), aimed at streamlining the accreditation process and enhancing digital accessibility, particularly for laboratories and MSMEs. The QCI, through its constituent boards - the NABL and the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) - partners with global bodies such as the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) to align India's quality and conformance infrastructure with international benchmarks. This year's theme, "Accreditation: Empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)", underscored the strategic role accreditation plays in enhancing competitiveness, market access, and credibility for MSMEs. The event opened with key messages from leadership and the release of a thematic video, setting the stage for dialogue on quality, innovation, and sustainable growth in the MSME sector. Reinforcing industry-wide commitment to quality, the event also featured 'Gunvatta Samarpan' - a unique initiative that encourages organisations to publicly pledge adherence to accredited standards across sectors. Addressing the gathering, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Amardeep Singh Bhatia, underlined the importance of accreditation in enabling Indian SMEs to access both domestic and global markets. He noted that certification and assessment bodies are crucial to the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat @2047, by upholding quality, supporting exports, and promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Quality Council of India (QCI) Chairperson, Jaxay Shah, in his keynote address, stated that accreditation is a gateway to global trust. He emphasised its role in helping MSMEs align with international standards, reduce rejection rates, boost productivity, and access new markets. Following the inaugural session, a Technical Session and concurrent CEO Forum featured expert-led discussions on how accreditation can drive MSME growth across sectors. Panellists shared insights on accreditation's role in improving diagnostic infrastructure, enabling international trade, supporting certified management systems and products, promoting third-party inspections, advancing sustainable manufacturing, and contributing to net-zero goals. Observed globally every year on June 9, World Accreditation Day highlights the role of accreditation in strengthening quality infrastructure, enabling global trade, and fostering economic development. This year's celebration by QCI reaffirmed accreditation as a vital enabler of innovation, competitiveness, and growth for India's small businesses in an increasingly globalised economy.
The Print
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
After 100-day governance programme, Fadnavis' new challenge for civil servants—a 150-day programme
This 150-day programme, he said, will focus largely on three elements—a roadmap for a fully developed Maharashtra by 2047, 100 percent e-governance when it comes to delivery of services, and service-related administrative reforms. Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is keeping civil servants on their toes. Soon after concluding a 100-day programme for the state government to improve its service delivery and efficiency, Fadnavis Tuesday announced a second 150-day programme for all departments in the state. 'We had implemented a 100-day programme in the state. There were two parts to it, one was improving government offices and the other was implementing new policies. A total of 12,500 state government offices in the state participated in the drive to improve offices. Also, the 48 departments in the government had come up with 902 policy decisions to implement. Of these, 706, or 78 percent, were completed,' the CM told reporters. 'From today, 6 May to 2 October, we are announcing a 150-day programme.' The CM laid out the basic objectives of the 150-day programme, promising to elaborate more it 7 May when the Mahayuti government will felicitate government officials for implementing the 100-day programme. Separately, Fadnavis also welcomed the Supreme Court's directions to hold all pending local body elections in four months and said the Mahayuti alliance will contest these polls unitedly. 'At some places there could be a different decision, here and there, which will be taken at the local level. But, by and large Mahayuti will fight these elections as an alliance,' he told reporters. The Mahayuti comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Also Read: The BluSmart-Gensol saga & why Anmol Singh Jaggi's green business is seeing red The new challenge The new 150-day challenge, the results of which Fadnavis will announce 2 October, will require departments to draw up a phase-wise road map for a fully developed Maharashtra by 2047. For the first phase, departments will have to chart out an action plan till 2029. The action plan for the second phase will be with the target year of 2035, and finally in the third phase, departments will lay down a roadmap till 2047. Overall, the state government has also set a target of becoming a trillion-dollar economy by 2028. 'Then, every department will have to implement e governance reforms. People should get 100 percent governance online. Nobody should need to come to government offices physically,' Fadnavis said. The CM did not give much details on the third aspect of the plan, which involves implementing service-oriented reforms. The 100-day plan concluded 1 May, for which Fadnavis had engaged the Centre's Quality Council of India to evaluate the performance of departments. The Mahayuti government completed 100 days in office 14 April, but the report was released 1 May. The Quality Council of India report said, of the 48 departments, 12 had completed 100 percent of the tasks assigned, while 18 had done more than 80 percent of the tasks. The bottom three departments—General Administration Department, Urban Development Department and Food and Civil Supplies Department—were led by the three Mahayuti leaders, CM Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, respectively. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Linde India's minority investors have been fighting firm for 5 yrs. Now they've clocked a small win
