Why has Mamata’s blue-and-white school uniform policy sparked controversy?

PAROMITA DAS

In Kolkata, it started with flyovers, road railings, pavements, and government buildings.

It is now the uniform in all state-run/aided schools in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee, now in her third term, appears to be taking her obsession with everything being blue and white—coincidentally the official colors of her party, the Trinamool Congress—to new heights.

The school education department has issued a notification directing all government schools to implement new blue and white uniforms for classes pre-primary through eighth grade, with the state government’s ‘Biswa Bangla’ logo on them.

The transition is expected to take effect in mid-April, when the new academic session begins, and will affect an estimated 700,000-800,000 students in Bengal’s 5,000 government-run/sponsored/aided schools. Each student will receive two free sets of the new uniform.

The notification, which was issued on March 21, has school officials in a tizzy. There was no government-mandated color code for uniforms in state-run schools until now. Schools were free to design their own uniforms. Many see the move as an imposition on schools with no tangible benefits and a contentious decision.

For starters, the Biswa Bangla logo is a state government trademark that can be found on official letterheads and commodities available for purchase and marketing through the MSME department. In fact, the Biswa Bangla brand was created by the state government to market products made by weavers and artisans in Bengal. This was to be done under the auspices of the Biswa Bangla Marketing Corporation, which was established in December 2014 by the MSME department.

 

Mamata announced in January 2018, amid a dispute over ownership of the Biswa Bangla logo, that she had designed it and coined the name. In response to BJP leader Mukul Roy’s claim that the Biswa Bangla trademark was originally owned by Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee’s company, Mamata insisted that it was her creation.

Many teachers believe that putting the Biswa Bangla logo on school uniforms amounts to state control and domination. “It’s as if schools are losing their uniqueness and identity. They’re attempting to group us all together “said a government school teacher from Kolkata who asked to remain anonymous.

The issue has also become entangled in Center-State (read BJP-TMC) politics, with Union Minister of State for Education Dr.SubhasSarkar alleging that the Mamata government was appropriating a central government scheme that provides free school uniforms for students by using her state’s logo. He stated that the Union government would investigate the matter.

In Bengal, opposition parties have accused the TMC government of politicising educational institutions. DilipGhosh, national vice-president of the BJP, claims that the Biswa Bangla logo has a tainted history and that forcing schoolchildren to wear it is the worst thing imaginable

“Unknowingly, children are becoming a part of an evil plan to politicise education. Why should kids be used to spread a government logo? “Ghosh inquired.

The left-wing All India Students’ Federation (AISF) has petitioned the Calcutta High Court for a stay. but officials argue that the uniform will bring uniformity and the logo will prevent its’misuse’ for other purposes. However, the new uniform bears a strong resemblance to TMC colors, which rival parties claim were imposed on Kolkata’s infrastructure by the Mamata government.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, which is run by the TMC, launched a scheme in 2014 to waive property taxes for a year for residential buildings painted blue and white.

The TMC has its own line of defense. “Because schoolchildren from various socioeconomic strata will wear the same uniform, clothing class distinctions will disappear,” a party leader said. The argument does not hold water with many independent analysts. “Such a directive was unnecessary. It is nothing more than a move to assert authority over state-funded educational institutions “Prasanta Ray, a social scientist, says “Behind the dress code is the state’s proclivity to stamp its ownership on everything.”