Delhi High Court Chides MCD For Deplorable Condition Of Schools
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court has taken municipal corporations to task over pictures of children sweeping classrooms instead of studying. The High court asked the corporations if children were taught anything at all at the schools. ."Is there any teaching taking place in the schools? Shall we call the students here? You teach them like this? Childrenare carrying brooms in their hands. Shall we order inspection," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said after looking at pictures of some of the schools in deplorable conditions.
"How come the premises are so dirty. What about the toilets," the bench questioned some officials and an MCD school principal who was present in the court room. Calling the condition of the school extremely unfortunate, the bench asked the principal present on the occasion if they ever conducted inspection of the school.
The bench also questioned if the principals and invigilators of the schools were working properly.
The court's remarks have come after it was shown pictures of some schools under North Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation, in which children are seen sweeping classroom floors and the campus is littered with garbage.
The court's response came while hearing a PIL filed by the NGO Justice for All. The NGO's counsel Khagesh Jha said that the schools stink as a result of the garbage not being cleaned regularly.
The bench has asked the petitioner to provide a list of people who could be entrusted to conduct random inspection of the schools and has listed the next hearing of the matter on September 19.
The counsel which represented the civic body said that garbage was a result of the neighboring resident colonies which regularly dumped garbage in the school compound. It also said that a complaint was filed with the police in this regard. The counsel also maintained that garbage was regularly removed from the schools.
The high court had earlier asked the municipal corporations officials to fall in line, chiding them saying "is this how you treat your children?"
"Quit your jobs and sit at home," it had told the officials of the Delhi government and the municipal corporations for their failure to implement daily garbage collection from city schools.
On May 17, the bench had asked the three MCDs, the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board to make sure that garbage was regularly collected from all schools under their jurisdiction and was disposed of.
The court had directed that garbage collection and disposal from schools should be done on a daily basis and the authorities were to intimate the schools about the time when the collection of garbage would be undertaken.
The bench also said that principals of schools would also be held accountable if their respective schools were found unclean. The court directed the municipal bodies and other agencies to communicate the same to school principals.
The petition said that multiple agencies were busy shifting blame on each other without any effort to establish co-ordination to improve the condition of schools. The petition also said that the contract to clean toilets was awarded to the lowest bidders with the amount being so low that it was impossible to clean toilets. The staff which has been appointed by the contractors are low in number and hence these schools have unclean toilets.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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"How come the premises are so dirty. What about the toilets," the bench questioned some officials and an MCD school principal who was present in the court room. Calling the condition of the school extremely unfortunate, the bench asked the principal present on the occasion if they ever conducted inspection of the school.
The bench also questioned if the principals and invigilators of the schools were working properly.
The court's remarks have come after it was shown pictures of some schools under North Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation, in which children are seen sweeping classroom floors and the campus is littered with garbage.
The court's response came while hearing a PIL filed by the NGO Justice for All. The NGO's counsel Khagesh Jha said that the schools stink as a result of the garbage not being cleaned regularly.
The bench has asked the petitioner to provide a list of people who could be entrusted to conduct random inspection of the schools and has listed the next hearing of the matter on September 19.
The counsel which represented the civic body said that garbage was a result of the neighboring resident colonies which regularly dumped garbage in the school compound. It also said that a complaint was filed with the police in this regard. The counsel also maintained that garbage was regularly removed from the schools.
The high court had earlier asked the municipal corporations officials to fall in line, chiding them saying "is this how you treat your children?"
"Quit your jobs and sit at home," it had told the officials of the Delhi government and the municipal corporations for their failure to implement daily garbage collection from city schools.
On May 17, the bench had asked the three MCDs, the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board to make sure that garbage was regularly collected from all schools under their jurisdiction and was disposed of.
The court had directed that garbage collection and disposal from schools should be done on a daily basis and the authorities were to intimate the schools about the time when the collection of garbage would be undertaken.
The bench also said that principals of schools would also be held accountable if their respective schools were found unclean. The court directed the municipal bodies and other agencies to communicate the same to school principals.
The petition said that multiple agencies were busy shifting blame on each other without any effort to establish co-ordination to improve the condition of schools. The petition also said that the contract to clean toilets was awarded to the lowest bidders with the amount being so low that it was impossible to clean toilets. The staff which has been appointed by the contractors are low in number and hence these schools have unclean toilets.
(With Inputs from PTI)
Click here for more Education News
