With the police registering FIRs against 186 schools, several managements have alleged that police initiated the action in “haste and in a haphazard manner” without clear parameter to assess implementation of safety norms.
Interestingly, the Department of Public Instruction expressed “surprise and shock” as the police booked criminal cases against the principals/heads of many government schools for failing to implement the safety norms.
Some school managements claimed that cases have been booked against them even though several of the guidelines issued by the police were implemented. Many wondered how FIRs were registered against schools who partially implemented norms while no FIR was registered against those which have not implemented even a single norm. Commissioner for Public Instruction Mohammad Mohsin, who was taken aback on learning about the FIRs against government schools, said: “We will fight this legally. Where is the money to implement the guidelines? Let the Police Department give us some money.” D. Shashi Kumar, organising secretary of the Karnataka State Private Schools Managements’ Federation, said, “I have submitted an affidavit citing that most norms were met and had received appreciation from the court. This shows that the police have booked without properly accessing the norms that were implemented. Now our staff will have to unnecessarily do the rounds of police stations instead of teaching.”
Mr. Kumar is the director of Blossoms School against whom an FIR was filed even though the school had compiled with most of the norms in the guidelines.
Stating that some norms issued by the police were not relevant for government schools, Mr. Mohsin said, “Where is the necessity of issuing ID cards to parents when they do not even come to pick up their children in government schools?”
When asked about the allegations by schools that they were booked despite complying with some of the guidelines, Alok Kumar, Additional Commissioner (Law and Order), said, “The schools can approach the court.” He made it clear that schools will have to implement all the norms and said that FIRs would be booked against schools that have partially implemented norms.