The Hindu : School for deaf and dumb to be shifted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

School for deaf and dumb to be shifted

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD March 11. The Government High School for Deaf and Dumb, which is in the eye of a storm for alleged harassment of students, will be shifted to a new place soon and the entire staff changed.

This was stated by the Minister for Commercial Taxes, K. Vijayarama Rao, during a visit to the school on Tuesday. Mr. Rao, along with the Minister for Tribal and Handicapped Welfare, Mani Kumari, visited the school and interacted with the students. The Congress MLAs -- Sunita Lakshma Reddy and Nedurumalli Rajyalakshmi -- also accompanied him.

The students explained to the Minister that they felt insecure in the environment where some former students were harassing them and the teachers did nothing to protect them. The school was a better place till a few months back, but now the situation was worse. Some girl students conveyed through their teacher that they were more vulnerable.

When the Minister sought an explanation from the hostel warden, he said that former students regularly visited the school to enquire about the conditions of students they had admitted. He also attributed the present problem to the rivalry between three associations for the deaf, which were working to get a foothold in the school.

The Minister later made it clear that no outsiders would be allowed on the school premises and police protection would be provided to the students. He said the school would be shifted to a new place to keep unwanted elements at bay. When it was brought to his notice that boys and girls had a combined hostel, he said they would be separated soon. Seeing the students' condition, Mr. Vijayarama Rao said hearing equipment would also be provided to them soon. He asked the Commissioner, Disabled Welfare, Sundervadan, to enquire into the whole issue and submit a report soon.

Meanwhile, the ABVP has demanded action against the people harassing girl students. The SFI city unit also demanded an enquiry by senior officials into the alleged sexual harassment of girls and sought the transfer of all the teachers.

In a separate statement, the PDSU sought protection to girl students and threatened to launch an agitation if the guilty were not punished. The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) demanded the suspension of the warden and wanted an enquiry on how many girl students had left the school in the last two years.

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