Bengaluru: The department of school education and literacy has ordered an independent district-level verification of the quality of shoes and socks distributed to govt school students under Vidya Vikas Scheme, following reports of footwear developing defects within days of distribution.The govt had sanctioned one pair of shoes and two pairs of socks for every student from Class 1 to 10 in govt schools for the 2026-27 academic year. However, many school development and monitoring committees highlighted complaints of soles peeling off, stitches coming undone, and toe sections tearing within days or weeks of use. Poor quality of socks was also reported.The verification will be conducted by teams constituted under the direct supervision of zilla panchayat chief executive officers. Officials who were involved in the original distribution have been excluded from the teams to ensure independence.The teams will include 2-3 officials from departments other than school education, such as food and civil supplies, revenue, PWD/engineering, women and child development and agriculture/horticulture.The teams have been directed to inspect at least 25% of govt schools in every district, covering all taluks and clusters through stratified random sampling. They will examine the stitching strength, material used, thickness and weight of the footwear, and whether the shoes conform to tender specifications. The teams will also conduct spot measurements of students’ feet to check whether the sizes supplied correspond to actual requirements.The technical quality assurance mechanism for the footwear had included institutions such as IISc Bengaluru, NITK Surathkal and Lidkar for pre-dispatch testing and monitoring. The govt has now sought field-level verification amid concerns that footwear supplied to schools may not correspond to the approved test samples.ZP CEOs have been directed to constitute the inspection teams within seven days. Field inspections and submission of district-level reports to the commissioner of school education must be completed within 10 days. The commissioner will submit a consolidated state-level report to the govt.Earlier, Upalokayukta Justice K N Phanindra had ordered registration of a suo motu complaint into the issue.
