Shimla: Communist Party of India (Marxists) have demanded holding accountable the authorities responsible for collapse of a boundary wall of a primary school in Una district in which four innocents lost their lives on Monday.
CPI(M) state secretary Rakesh Singha hit out at the education department saying that the people responsible for the dangerous construction of a boundary wall in a primary school at Chhatarpur Dhada village be arrested and stringent action be taken against them.
The tragic incident makes it evident that construction of buildings and rooms in government Schools have not been carried out to specification by the education department, said Singha.
The party has demanded that a minimum of Rs 5 lakh be given as compensation to the families of the victims in the accident.
Punitive action to be taken against those found responsible – Education Minister
Waking up to the situation, education minister ID Dhiman ordered a survey of all unsafe school buildings in the state.
The minister directed deputy directors of elementary and higher secondary education to get the survey of all unsafe building conducted by public works department (PWD) and follow up dismantling such structures after seeking due permission so as to avert any mishaps in educational institutions.
Expressing shock over the incident, Dhiman said that for responsibility would be fixed and punitive actions those found responsible would be taken.
On the other hand CPI(M) state secretary says that crores of rupees had been spent under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan for construction of infrastructure in schools which was not properly utilized.
“The education department does not have the mechanism to maintain a tab on the quality of constructions carried out and construction jobs were given out to favoured contractors,†he alleged.
By favouring privatization of education, said Singha, the state government was withdrawing from the sector and was reducing the budget for education.
“The proposal to close government schools should be stopped immediately. By promoting expensive education through privatization of the sector, the government was denying poor students their right to education,†he said.
While saying that many government schools lacked proper infrastructure, the party has demanded that the government allocate sufficient budget for providing proper facilities like classrooms, availability of teachers, playgrounds, toilets and kitchens for preparing the mid-day meals.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
