After the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took a serious view of a series of sexual assaults on girl students by the school authorities and asked the Chief Secretary to intimate corrective measures being initiated by the Government in this regard, the School and Mass Education Department has alerted all its wings to be vigilant to prevent such crimes.
The department has written to all District Education Officers (DEOs) and Block Education Officers (BEOs) to take remedial measures to prevent such crimes from being perpetrated in educational institutions. The Directorates of Secondary Education and Elementary Education, the Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA) and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) have also been asked to chalk out plans to be taken to prevent such crimes by teachers, headmasters and staffs of schools.
The promptness of the department came after the NHRC took cognisance of a case after a petition was filed by rights activist Subash Mohapatra over sexual harassment of a 10-year-old SC girl student of a Government school at Saipriya Nagar of Rayagada by the headmaster in 2013.
Pursuant to the rights panel’s notice, the Rayagada SP had submitted a report stating that the headmaster, Panchanan Palak, was arrested. later, a detailed report of the School and Mass Education Department showed that Palak was chargesheeted and subsequently convicted for three-year imprisonment.
However, the petitioner submitted a petition with the NHRC earlier this year alleging that though the headmaster was convicted, the department had not removed him from service. Similarly, no monetary relief was given to the victim girl.
He also alleged that a large number of sexual harassment cases have been reported from the State where both boys and girls are subjected to such crimes, but no corrective measure is taken by the Government.
The NHRC ordered the Chief Secretary for Rs 1-lakh compensation to the victim and asked the Chief Secretary to intimate within eight weeks what steps have been taken to prevent such crimes in schools.
The commission further directed the Rayagada District Magistrate to intimate it as to whether any monetary ex-gratia relief or compensation under the Victim Compensation Scheme of the State and under Rule 7 of the POCSO Act has been paid to the victim girl or not. The Collector has been asked to respond within four weeks.