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Verdict reserved on petition seeking guidelines for safety in schools

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved verdict on a public interest litigation petition seeking formulation of a comprehensive time-bound plan to ensure safety of children in schools in the light of the Kumbakonam fire tragedy in July 2004 that claimed 90 lives.

A Bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice L.S. Panta reserved verdict after hearing counsel for the petitioner, the Centre, Tamil Nadu and few other States on the steps taken by them to prevent such incidents.

The petitioner, Avinash Mehrotra, wanted a direction to constitute a committee of jurists, legal experts and lawyers to formulate a comprehensive time-bound report for carrying out reforms in the safety standards prescribed for schools. He also asked the court to evolve model safety standards as a part of Article 21 and for free and fair exercise of the fundamental rights under Article 14, 15 and 19 of the Constitution.

He submitted that implementation of economic reforms had seen proliferation of ill-equipped schools with the government slashing its spending on education to curtail budget deficit.

In its response, Tamil Nadu said the State government had taken immediate steps to remove all thatched roofs in schools and replace them with non-flammable materials. The Code of Regulations for Approved Nursery and Primary Schools and matriculation schools had been amended and it had been made mandatory to obtain a ‘no objection’ certificate from the Fire Services Department for granting permission for establishing any private school, and for recognition.

The government had also ordered that all the noon-mean centres in the State be provided with non-flammable roofing.

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