Concerned about safety of children studying in a government school here, the building of which is 99-year-old and in a dilapidated state, the Delhi High Court has asked the city government by when it can shift the students to another school.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao asked the government to file a status report indicating by when the students would be accommodated in other schools and the time frame for repairing or reconstructing the building.
The court, however, made it clear that the structure in question should not be used for anything else in its present condition as it can cave in any time.
The directions from the Bench came on a petition by NGO Social Jurist, which has alleged that Rajputana Rifles Heroes Memorial Co-ed Senior Secondary School in Delhi Cantonment that was taken over by the Delhi government in 1975 and has been getting 100% aid from it, was in a horrible condition.
‘Unsuitable’
The Directorate of Education of the Delhi government had earlier told the court that a joint inspection of the building in question had revealed that it was constructed in 1919, and had outlived its useful life and was unsuitable for habitation.
Advocate Ashok Agarwal, appearing for the NGO, had earlier said around 450 students were studying in the school and they were unjustly deprived of adequate physical infrastructure and academic faculty.
The plea said though the school is open for all, it mainly caters to the children of servants of military officials who cannot afford to educate their children in private schools.
It alleged that the school lacks basic amenities, including potable water, functional toilets, science or computer labs, clean classrooms and proper boundary wall, and that several posts of teachers are lying vacant. The petition sought direction that the existing building of the school be demolished and rebuilt as a state-of-the-art school.
