A division bench of the Gujarat High Court on December 17, Friday, took suo motu cognisance of a report on students of a government primary school gathering in the courtyard of the school for offline classes after their school building collapsed last year. The court has castigated the state education minister for his “rash” and “shameful” reply regarding the incident.
The report stated that students of the primary school in Vaghalwada in the tribal district of Chhota Udepur were forced to sit in the courtyard of the mid-day meal cook’s house after the school building collapsed in the monsoon of 2020. What the court really objected to, however, was the reply given by Education Minister Jitu Vaghani who had said, “Many times, during winters, children are made to sit in the open in schools. When I was a student, I even used to sit in the open and study.”
The court noted, “We expect a high constitutional functionary to exercise some restraint while making such rash statements in public,” and termed his reply, “more distressing, disgusting and annoying than the prevailing situation.” The bench issued a notice to the state government and directed the registry to register the matter as a suo motu public interest litigation. The court also directed a “responsible officer not below the rank of additional secretary from the roads and buildings department to remain present” on the returnable date.
Meanwhile, the state was asked to “immediately undertake the construction of a new school and see to it that it is completed within a period of six months from the date of the receipt of the writ of this order.”
