Expressing dissatisfaction at the chief education officer (CEO) of Dehradun for taking no action to form an investigation team for the inspection of The Doon School, the chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), Usha Negi stated that the education department cannot overlook the instructions of the commission as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court. On September 4, Negi had sent a letter to CEO stating that a reputed institution like The Doon School was allegedly running without a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Uttarakhand Government for years.
To inspect the boarding school, Negi directed the CEO to form a joined investigation team including one member nominated by the district probation officer, Child Welfare Committee (CWC), SCPCR and district programme officer, asking the CEO to respond to the commission within one week. However, as per Negi, the commission has not received any response from the department so far regarding the investigation. She also added that the commission had not received any response in the past, when the SCPCR wrote to the department in September 2018 regarding the same concern about all boarding schools in Dehradun district. As per the Supreme Court and Central Government directions, the commission has all the rights to investigate, look and give instructions in all such matters where the safety of children is in question.
She added that schools are penalised accordingly if they violate any rules that compromise with the safety of children and if they continue to ignore the rules even after repeated warnings, the district administration can handle the management of such school. Further, Negi has now directed the CEO to respond to the commission within one week as per the Supreme Court directions regarding the formation of the investigation team.