Maharashtra: Children kept in dirty dorm, filthy loos and fed half chapati a day

Nearly 400 children belonging to scheduled tribes studying at a residential school nominated by the state governmentrsquos tribal development department TDD are being transferred to other facilities following a Bombay High Court order mentioning multiple deficiencies and the complaints of parents The institute Namrata Acharya English School and Junior College in Shelu taluka of Karjat in Raigad district is attended by 386 students from four tribal villagesmdashJawhar Dahanu Pen and GhodegaonGarbage strewn on a staircase in the hostel near the Namrata Acharya English School and Junior College in Shelu taluka KarjatThe Maharashtra government passed a GR on May 18 2018 to bring tribal students into the mainstream by providing them with better education facilities at residential schools The state government nominated a few Englishmedium schools where tribal students can stay in hostels and complete their education up to Std XII at public expense In return the school will be paid per student per annum The copy of this GR is available with middayJawharbased parents alleged that the students were given an inadequate amount of food sometimes as little as half a chapati daily and were not treated if they fell sick or got injured A senior IAS officer told midday that multiple deficiencies were noticed during the inspection of the school run by a charitable public trust called Leela Education SocietyAlso read Sion accident 19yearold victim with severe burns succumbs toll rises to threeldquoThe school building was located at 7 km away from a housing society where these students are kept This violates the GR The students should have been housed in a residential school where the hostel is on the same premises as the place where they are receiving educationrdquo said the officer requesting anonymity ldquoThe school management would transport these children in a bus and in case there was a technical snag the students would either get late or miss classes Above all crucial time was wasted on travelrdquo the officer addedA broken door at the hostel PicsHanif PatelHe stated that the housing society where the children would sleep on bunk beds was unhygienic ldquoThe dustbins were overflowing and bathrooms were stinking like hell Also live electric wires were hanging next to the bunk beds and there were no switchboards There were several other issuesrdquo the officer said Dozens of parents from Jawhar and Mokhada told midday that the school management had not provided them with free clothing school uniforms stationery medical facilities and good food which is mentioned in the GRlsquoChild was denied medsrsquoldquoMy 11yearold son has been studying in the school since 2021 He is in Std V but he does not know how to read or write What kind of education is this school providingrdquo asked Mokhadabased farmer Ramesh KhutadeA filthy toilet in the hostel the hostel near the Namrata Acharya English School and Junior College in Shelu taluka KarjatldquoMy son told me that he was forced to eat only half a chapati in a day He has become feeble Now he does not want to go back to the hostel He is completely traumatisedrdquo said Khutade who brought his son back home on July 30 after learning that he was suffering from conjunctivitis ldquoThe teacher told me that I must take back my son home because of the infection in his eyes The school management did not provide him with medicinerdquo he allegedLabourer Gangaram Patilrsquos eightyearold son got severe chicken poxlike infection all over his body ldquoThe school management did not inform me he was unwellrdquo Patil said He added ldquoThis happened in February 2022 and I learnt about the infection only when I randomly visited the school to see my son He was feeling restless and reeling under severe pain So I brought him back home and got him treated at Jawharrdquo added Patil who lives in a tribal hamlet in Mokhada taluka of Palghar districtldquoI will never send my son to that school again I had been complaining for a long time to government officials but nothing happened immediatelyrdquo Patil said A turning point was reached only after many children started to complain to their parents about the mismanagement of the schoolTransfer process underwayldquoAs per the directives of the Bombay High Court the aggrieved parents are giving their applications to the project officer to request that their children be transferred from the Karjatbased school The transfer procedure is underwayrdquo said Jawharbased activist Sita Ghatal On July 27 a project officer from Jawhar taluka made a surprise visit and found multiple violations of the GR The inspection report was submitted to the additional commissioner of the TDD in Thane Subsequently the school was issued a notice on August 3 by the tribal development commissioner Nashik and the school management was asked to lsquoremove the deficiencies within seven daysrsquoKids from Jawhar Dahanu Pen and Ghodegaon attend the schoolldquoBut despite receiving the notice the school did not rectify their errorsrdquo said another senior IAS officer He added that the school was given Rs 60000 per student per annum but kids were forced to endure intolerable conditions despite the institute receiving a huge amount from the government ldquo The trustee of the school has moved the high court and filed a writ petition when we tried to transfer the students elsewhererdquo said the IAS officerFearing for the fate of their children the aggrieved parents filed an intervention application through an advocate Shahen Pradhan in the high court ldquoWe have filed the intervention applications on behalf of the parents of four children studying in Std II to IV At the hearing of the petition on September 11 we orally informed the high court that four parents would want to intervene in the petition as they do not wish to send their children to this school and want their children to be transferred to another schoolrdquo said advocate PradhanSchoolrsquos versionPremsing Rajput project officer Leela Education Society said ldquoAn officer had given a wrong report under the influence of some parents and an exreporter On my visit to Jawhar to verify the misinformation I came in contact with some parents an exreporter and some miscreants Their intention was to blackmail us The whole conversation was recorded and an FIR was filed at Jawhar police stationrdquoOur organisation is a charitable trust and is completely dedicated to the upliftment of tribal and urban studentsrdquo He added ldquoWe provide excellent facilities to all students Anyone can come and verify the facts any day The environment provided by the school to these students is really excellent One has to see it to believe it Our organisation is always working for the betterment of society and is committed to helping students achieve their goalsrdquoSome of parentsrsquo grievancesi The school hostel staff would not provide meals on time and the portions were inadequateii The hostelrsquos rooms were not clean and in some there were no switchboards while live wires were hanging looselyiii The school did not inform parents that their children were sick One Yogita Gangaram Patilrsquos son had chicken pox but she came to know about it when she visited him Her sonrsquos entire body had boils and he had to be rushed to a private hospitalJuly 27Day surprise visit occurred