Child rights panel puts rider on admissions to Mahendragarh school

Mahendragarh, April 13

Taking note of the Kanina bus accident that left six schoolchildren dead, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairman Priyank Kanoongo today reached GL Public School and pulled up officials of the Education and Transport Departments for alleged negligence in complying with safety norms.

Kanoongo inspected school buses and asked Deputy Commissioner Monika Gupta to penalise District Education Officer Sunil Dutt for his alleged failure in getting the safety norms implemented. He said no new admission would take place in the school until the safety issues were addressed.

The NCPCR chief also asked the district administration to conduct a safety audit of all schools and impose penalties on those found flouting norms. “A penalty of 1 per cent can be slapped for the first violation, 3 per cent for the second and 5 per cent for the third,” he said. He also issued directions for the formation of parent-teacher association and school management committee in all schools. Interacting with the media later, Kanoongo said the investigation should be done in the right direction and the culprits punished so that such incidents did not recur. “The commission will conduct its probe and hand over the report to the Central Government,” he said.