‘It cost us Rs 10,000’: 1.9 lakh Delhi students still wait for uniform subsidy

Pinky’s experience reflects a larger delay affecting nearly 1.9 lakh students this academic session.

‘Deficient account details’

Among the 8,29,304 students up to Class 8 enrolled in Delhi government schools under the RTE Act this year, 6,39,904 have received the uniform subsidy through direct benefit transfer (DBT), while 1,89,400 are still waiting, according to Education department data.

The department has attributed the pending payments to “deficient account details” and said the process of making payments to the remaining students is under way.

There was a similar gap last year.

Of the around 8.4 lakh eligible students in 2025-26, 7,15,148 received the subsidy, leaving 1,25,152 pending, according to department data. About 77% of eligible students have received the benefit this year, compared with around 85% last year.

According to Pinky, she has been told by the school that the subsidy would reach her account by the end of August.

“There is a place in Lodhi Colony that stitches school uniforms. I paid Rs 3,000 for my daughter’s uniform there,” she said. But after buying a uniform for her son, her total expenditure came to Rs 10,000, she added.

Her husband, who works in housekeeping at a hotel, earns around Rs 14,000 a month.

For parents, the delay does not mean they can wait to buy uniforms.

Shiv Narayan, whose daughter studies in Nursery at MCD Co-ed Primary School, Lajpat Nagar III, said he had submitted his bank details during admission this year but was still waiting for the subsidy.

“They told me to pay Rs 500, which would be adjusted when the subsidy comes. Since the amount has still not come, I bought my daughter her uniform from my pocket,” he said.

At Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Pandara Road, the father of a Class 7 student said he spent around Rs 2,500-3,000 on his son’s uniform last year. He received the subsidy almost a year late – in March this year.

“Senior students get a slightly higher amount, around Rs 1,500. But everyone is feeling the squeeze from price rise… We still make do. The school provides the books,” he said.

EWS, Disadvantaged Group students at pvt schools

The delays are also a concern for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Group (DG) students studying in private schools. The Action Committee of Unaided Recognized Private Schools has raised concerns over timely reimbursement for uniforms, textbooks and writing material provided to these students under the RTE quota.

At Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Patparganj, a PGT (post graduate teacher) teacher said the school had recently held a parents’ meeting to identify students whose bank details had not been submitted.

“The Directorate of Education has asked us to expedite the collection of these details. Every working day, entries and other technical work are being done to complete the process and clear the pending cases,” the teacher added.

Atal Adarsh Vidyalaya, Lodhi Road Principal Sabeena Sood said delays were generally linked to KYC or bank account details. “Sometimes, KYC is not done and the department cannot process the bank account details for DBT,” she said, adding that her school faced such cases among around 2% of students.

Mohan Paswan, a social worker in Prem Nagar, said the delay defeated the purpose of the assistance.

“The subsidy is intended to ease the cost of uniforms for families, but many parents are having to pay the full cost first and wait for reimbursement,” he said.

Revision of subsidy rates

The continued use of DBT is significant because the Delhi government had earlier proposed shifting to providing uniforms in kind to students from Nursery to Class 8 in government schools from the 2026-27 academic session.

The proposal came amid a long-running case in the Delhi High Court over the provision of free uniforms, textbooks and writing material to children under the RTE Act. A contempt petition in 2019 was filed by Justice for All, the same society who was the petitioner in the 2013 case.

The government had told the court in 2025 that it could not provide uniforms in kind due to “operational difficulties” and instead proposed revising the subsidy rates.

The revised rates, notified in June 2025, are Rs 1,250 for Classes 1-5, Rs 1,500 for Classes 6-8 and Rs 1,700 for Classes 9-12. The rates had remained unchanged since 2017-18. The subsidy applies to students in government and aided schools, as well as EWS/DG students studying in private schools under the RTE quota.

In January, the HC upheld the government’s revised policy, directing it to ensure that the “adequate amount is provided” in accordance with its policy “well within time and at the earliest”.

The latest status report was filed in contempt proceedings arising from the case. It recorded that the department has made DBT payments to most eligible students but continues to process the remaining cases.

Delay not new

The issue of delayed payments is not new.

Minutes of a Delhi government meeting in 2017 on implementation of the RTE Act had recorded more than two lakh pending cases involving money meant for uniforms, textbooks and writing material. At the time, the department had cited the absence of Aadhaar seeding with bank accounts as a reason for the delay.

The government had then directed the department not to insist on Aadhaar seeding for the pending payments and to release them immediately.

Nearly a decade later, deficient account details remain the department’s stated reason for pending uniform subsidy payments – while families like Pinky’s continue to pay upfront.