COIMBATORE:Prizes that children have won in the 'Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya' campaign have become a bit of a bother for their parents: they have to spend much more than the Rs 30-350 'prize money' to collect it, as it is given as cheque.
Drawing, oratorical and essay writing competitions were conducted by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in connection with the campaign. Some parents said they had to spend four to five times the amount to collect it from the banks.
The district-level competitions were conducted last week for government and aided school students.
The over 350 participants were the winners in the school-level and block-level contests. As much as Rs 80 lakh was allocated to organise the competition in Tamil Nadu.
While the prize amounts at the school-level were Rs 30-100, they were Rs 100-350 at the higher levels. The SSA had decided to give this prize money as cheques, rather than cash.
Said a parent whose son had won a drawing competition, “My son, a class-three student, won the drawing competition for which he got a prize of Rs 30. I can’t send him to the bank alone. I had to spend about Rs 300 to travel from my native place to the bank to collect it.”
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan State Project Director Pooja Kulkarni said instructions had been issued to class teachers to accompany the students to the banks and make them understand how cheques are used.
"Though the prize amounts are only Rs 30-100, the motive was to give the students a basic idea of using cheques," she added.