The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Ban on classes under thatched roof

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Ban on classes under thatched roof

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 18. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today directed District Collectors to take up an intensive inspection of all schools between July 19 and July 23 and issue notices to the managements, directing them to replace thatched roofs with non-flammable structures by July 30.

The Cabinet would meet at 11 a.m. tomorrow and observe two minutes silence to pay homage to the 90 children, who died in a fire in an aided private school at Kumbakonam on July 16, she said in a statement here.

Any school, which did not comply with this mandate within the stipulated period, would be liable for cancellation of its recognition and the management would be proceeded against for criminal negligence. Ms.Jayalalithaa said the Collectors, after preparing a list of schools having thatched structures, would issue notices to the managements asking them to immediately replace the thatched structures with non-flammable material. The schools should submit a compliance report to the Collectors by July 30.

A committee consisting of the Collector, the Chief Educational Officer, the District Educational Officer and two members of the parents-teachers association would verify whether the roofs had been replaced with non-flammable material. ``I have instructed that no class should function in thatched rooms."

She expressed the hope that the authorities running such schools "will rise to the occasion realising that observation of safety norms cannot be compromised, where children, future of this country, are concerned."

Ms.Jayalalithaa said prayer meetings would be held in all schools in the State tomorrow morning "to pay homage to these unfortunate children. Thereafter, the schools would remain closed for the day."

She said the Kumbakonam incident occurred due to "criminal negligence" on the part of the school management and "slack supervision" by the Education Department authorities. The thatched roof put up on the school premises caused the fire to spread and ended in unforeseen devastation and loss of lives. "According to norms, such thatched roofs are not permissible and should never have been allowed," she said.

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