MADURAI
A public interest litigation petition was filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking restoration of an Adi Dravidar residential school in Devakottai Rastha of Sivaganga district and the removal of garbage from its premises.
A division bench of Justices R. Subbiah and A. D. Jagadish Chandira directed notice to the Sivaganga district authorities.
The petitioner, K.K. Samy of Sivaganga, said that the Municipal Adi Dravidar School was constructed in 1937 under an initiative led by Dalit activist C. Iyodhee Thass Pandithar, who had pursued the setting up of the school with the then colonial government.
However, the district authorities used the premises to dump waste. As a result, the children were affected and the school had to be closed down. Now, there was no Adi Dravidar school in Karaikudi taluk and the students were compelled to go to the Adi Dravidar school in Tiruppattur taluk, claimed the petitioner.
The authorities were continuing the dumping of waste, which included biowaste, on the school premises and this affected the residents too. The petitioner said that the closure defeated the objective of the establishment of the Adi Dravidar welfare school and violated Section 6 of the Right to Education Act, 2009. Hence, the school should be restored for the welfare of students, he said.
