Each bag contained a compass box, note books, a water bottle, pencils and slates. Around 5,000 such bags were given away today.
P B Rathod, an education officer with the Surat Municipal Education Board (SMEB), said no official instructions were given to the supplier to put Modi’s pictures on the school bags.
“We had only asked for simple bags of good quality,” he said.
However, Raees Shaikh, a member of SMEB, said, “The municipal corporation is not a government body. We will not tolerate such mischief. We have come to know that instructions to include Modi’s sketches on school bags were given by SMEB chairman Atul Patel. We have asked for an explanation.