Jhalawar (Rajasthan):
At the Piplodi Government School in Jhalawar, a normal school day was turned into a tragedy when the roof of a classroom collapsed just after the students had gathered for their morning prayers, leaving seven dead and 27 injured.
Reports depicting the incident revealed that a few children observed some pebbles and bricks dropping on the ceiling and immediately reported to their teachers. Even after the warning, teachers even though they were allegedly eating breakfast at that time rejected the concerns and ordered students to go back to their classroom. There were pebbles falling. One student confided that, the teachers scolded them and continued with breakfast, after the students informed them. Only a few moments later the wall and the roof of the classroom collapsed as many of the children were buried under the rubbles.
It collapsed on 25 July, adjacently to a morning assembly in a building which was supposedly older than thirty years and claimed to be poor in good condition despite having been previously filled with plaster. The immediate neighborhood dwellers promptly saved the day as they came to assist rescue activities, even assisting the school staff in pulling children out of rubbles. According to one of the pupils, had the kids been taken out, no accident took place.
The wounded who were critically injured were taken to nearby health centres and hospitals by rescue teams. Suspension of five school staff has since then followed as an inquiry of criminal negligence allegations made.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma immediately called a meeting of high officers, who directed all other departments, including Public Works Department, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and Rajasthan State Road Development and Construction Corporation to undertake emergency structural survey of all government buildings. A technical expert is also commissioned to bring in a detailed report within a period of five days. Harmful structures should be evacuated without delay and exposed schools relocated into safer grounds or temporary shelters.
Criticisms were strong among the opposition leaders. Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra termed the collapse as not only a tragedy it was murder due to apathy shown administration and demanded the Education Minister should submit his resignation. Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje also came out to criticise the incident and called to have an audit of all the infrastructure in the state to ensure such natural disaster never repeated.
President Droupadi Murmu termed the loss of lives as very tragic and extended prayers to bereaved families. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi described the accident as tragic and very sad, and he promised that the government is extending all the help possible to the victims of the accident, children and their families.
The administration in the district said the school in Piplodi was not on a list of such shabby structures recently revised, in further questioning maintenance and supervision. As District Collector Ajay Singh Rathore added, it was given instructions in June to report dangerous buildings, and this one was not tagged. He has opened an inquiry on why the previous complaints were not attended to.
The case has again brought into focus the pathetically pathetic state of school infrastructure in rural Rajasthan. The locals have been demanding a compensation of 1 crore per deceased child and 50 lakh to the injured and also employment in the government to the families that have suffered. There was an outbreak of protests in the region around the school and hospitals where the villagers fought with the police regarding the inaction of the administration.
Since the deaths of young people, questions must be answered urgently both regarding accountability and infrastructure safety as well as overall systemic failure of public school structures in the area.
