Fix responsibility

It has taken the gruesome murder of a young schoolboy for the Haryana Government to wake up to the need of ensuring safety in schools. Rather, the need of ensuring the implementation of rules under the Juvenile Justice Act already in place, enabling the little ones to study in a secure environment. The killing of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur in the presumably safe confines of the Ryan International School in Gurugram suggests glaring breaches of safety protocols by the school. The little boy’s throat was slit in a toilet allegedly after he resisted a sexual assault by a bus conductor. As should be, quick action has been initiated by all concerned: the accused conductor and two top school officials have been arrested; the acting school principal has been suspended, as also a local cop for baton-charging on the parents protesting against the school management for its negligence, PILs have been filed in courts, the HRD ministry is mulling on how to improve security in schools.

This is an all-too familiar rigmarole in the wake of any case that goes high profile. Beyond the Ryan tragedy is the vulnerability that lakhs of children face every day. Currently, the Ryan banner itself boasts of 304 schools in India and 43 outside. Perhaps, security is a small issue in its onward march. Mending broken boundary walls, expired fire extinguishers, unsafe toilets, CCTVs and appointing staff with police verification are not a priority. 

In a society where education has become a lucrative industry, the safety and well-being of children becomes a low priority. The Supreme Court has also intervened. The request for a CBI investigation by Pradyuman's father has prompted the Supreme Court to issue notices to the Centre. It has also sought views from the CBSE regarding framing of guidelines to fix responsibility of schools on children's safety. We owe it to ourselves to see to it that there are no more Pradyumans. The parents should be able to send their kids to school without fear. A modern state and its self-proclaimed interventionist governing arrangements must be able to ensure protection against horrible violations visited upon Pradyuman.