As part of the State government initiative to strengthen and protect general education, cloth for two sets of uniforms will be given to students of classes I to VIII of government and aided schools.
A joint venture of the Education and Industries Departments, 9.25 lakh metre of cloth will be distributed to 2.3 lakh students in the current academic year. The government had provided the yarn and wages for producing the handloom cloth for the uniforms. The project has benefited 8,000 workers as it created 2-lakh man-days.
A press release issued by the Industries Department here on Monday said that uniform cloth would be distributed to 2,718 students this month. Workers of 213 handloom cooperative societies and Hanveev in all districts, except Pathanamthitta, had joined the scheme. A sum of ₹6.03 crore was spent for procuring the yarn from the National Handloom Development Corporation. The Kerala Textile Corporation and a textile committee were entrusted with ensuring the quality of the yarn as well as the cloth to be distributed among students.
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The government has engaged Hantex for distributing the cloth in schools from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam and Hanveev from Thrissur to Kasaragod. The scheme will also set the ground for diversification and modernisation of the handloom sector, the release said.