Decide on school-safety guidelines in 3 months: SC to Center
The Supreme Court today asked Union Ministry of Human Resource Development to decide in three months on the demands for framing of safety guidelines for all schools, as sought by the father of a seven-year-old boy who was killed in a Gurgaon school and some lawyers. The top court said the decision taken by the government should cover both public and private schools.
SC seeks response of all states, UTs in the case
Earlier, the apex court had sought compilation of norms formulated by the Centre and states for its consideration. It had asked all the states and union territories to file their responses on the PILs filed by father of the deceased child, some lawyers, and organizations. Three states, Haryana, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, have filed their responses in the case.
Plea was filed by two women lawyers
The plea filed by two women lawyers in Supreme Court, Abha R Sharma and Sangeeta Bharti, sought framing of "non-negotiable" child safety conditions and implementation of existing guidelines to protect school going children from offenses like sexual abuse and murder across the country. The plea had also sought cancellation of licenses and forfeiture of state grants of erring schools.
Every school needs to have child protection policy: PIL
Referring to the guidelines, another PIL filed by lawyer Sujeeta Srivastava said, every school is required to have a "child protection policy which should be understood, explained and signed by all employees or recruits". All new employees must go through a day-long orientation program on issues related to child protection within a month of their joining, the plea suggested while referring to the guidelines.
