Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, however, indicated that the government would not derecognise the school as the future of about 1,200 students was at stake.
The Haryana government on Sunday asked the Gurugram Police to book the owner of Ryan International Public School under the Juvenile Justice Act in connection with the murder of a seven-year-old student last week.
Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, however, indicated that the government would not derecognise the school as the future of about 1,200 students was at stake.
“We have directed the Gurugram Police to book the owner of Ryan International School, Albert Pinto, under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, for cruelty to a child meted out by the custodian, in the chargesheet to be submitted in court within seven days,” a news agency quoted Sharma as saying.
There have been lapses on part of the school administration in ensuring the safety of the students, he said.
“We accept negligence on part of Ryan International School. We held a meeting today (Sunday), in which the demand to derecognise the school came up. But, we also had to take into account the fact that 1,200 students are studying there,” the minister said.
“We are issuing directives to all schools, including private ones, to ensure the safety of students,” he added.
Parents for CBI probe
This came after hundreds of angry protesters clashed with police and also burnt down a liquor store in Gurugram, demanding the closure of the school, and a CBI probe into the murder of Pradhuman, who was a Class II student.
The police were forced to resort to lathicharge to disperse the violent mob. Several mediapersons were also injured in the incident.
Gurugram deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh had constituted a committee comprising the district education officer, block education officer and an official of the district Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan on Friday after the boy was sexually molested and murdered in the school. A conductor of a school bus was arrested in this
connection.
“The committee has found that toilets were shared by students and nearly 40 bus drivers and conductors. There is no security for students near toilets and the porous school boundary. There is no system to check those entering the premises, while the CCTV footage is not comprehensive,” the minister said.
On the parents’ demand for a CBI inquiry, he said the chargesheet in the case will be ready within a week.
“If the parents of the child insist on a probe by the CBI or any other agency, the government will accede to their demand,” he said.