Expressing deep concern over functioning of some Government schools in unsafe buildings, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked the State Government to demolish all unsafe school buildings immediately and construct new structures instead.
The OHRC’s direction came in the light of the death of a four-year-old student in a school in Sambalpur district in June 2013. Deciding an application in this regard, the commission directed the School and Mass Education Department Secretary to pay compensation of Rs3 lakh to the parents of the victim, who was studying in Class-I. Om Prateek Rana of Brahmanipali UGME School at Redhakhol died on June 3 last year when an unused cement chair caved in on him. The school building was constructed about 40 years ago and the cement chair was damaged beyond repair.
“It is not understood why such an unsafe structure was allowed to stand when as many as four new rooms have been constructed in the same premises,” the commission said, adding that failure to do so amounts to negligence on the part of the Government for which it cannot escape liability. The commission directed the Government to issue immediate instructions to all district Collectors to make a thorough inspection of all schools.