The Police Commissioner’s >11-point guideline , mandating CCTV cameras in schools, has put over 1,500 government schools in Bangalore Urban district in a quandary. Without sufficient funds or fresh allocation for the purpose, they will not be able to meet the August-end deadline.
A headmaster of a government school in north Bangalore said, “Our pressing issues include basic infrastructure such as benches. Installation of CCTV cameras is a distant dream,” he said.
Commissioner of Public Instruction Mohammad Mohsin, who is yet to receive a copy of the guidelines, echoed his views. “We will have to examine the available resources. It may be difficult to implement them in government schools. However, we will look at the available resources and write to the government if this needs to be done,” he said. Mr Mohsin also said that if necessary, the department could consider roping in donors and corporate houses. While the 70-point guidelines issued by the Department of Public Instruction had also mandated CCTV cameras in schools, the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education had said that it would not be feasible in government schools. But now the guidelines issued by the police under the Karnataka Police Act, 1963 have put the Education Department in a fix. Asked if government schools would be shown leniency, Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi said that he was yet to receive any communication on the matter from the Education Department.
