Gurgaon: A government school in Jacobpura and some parents whose children study in the institution filed a police complaint on Saturday against a local food vendor who allegedly employed a few students at his stall.
The shop has been removed from the area and a police team formed to look into the allegations. According to the students, the man offered them free meals and paid Rs 20-30 per day for chopping vegetables or washing dishes at the stall.
While one girl student worked at the food stall initially, she later convinced a few others to join so that they could earn something.
The food stall outside Jacobpura Girls’ Senior Secondary School is popular among casual labourers in the area and offered meals for Rs 5. It had been running for a few years, according to local residents.
But a few days ago, some parents complained to the school officials saying that their children were returning home at unusual times.
Sometimes they would return late in the evening, on other days, they were home early.
“A group of parents came to us and asked us why the school does not have a fixed schedule and that is when we realised something was wrong because the school timings had not changed. We checked our records and found that some of our girl students did not turn up for the classes although they had left their houses wearing school uniforms,” said school principal Sunil Kumar.
A special committee was formed to look into the matter and the members found that some of the students were working at the food stall outside the school. When the committee members spoke to the students, they said the owner gave them free food and Rs 20-Rs 30 per day for doing menial jobs like chopping vegetables and washing dishes.
“We immediately asked the vendor to shut the shop. After getting to know what happened, some parents also threatened him with police action. He shut the stall and left the area two days ago,” Kumar added.
The City police station has formed a committee with women personnel and they are looking into the allegations.
“We have received the complaint and formed a team to investigate the matter. The team is reaching out to the parents and the students to take their statements ,” said station house officer Krishan Kumar.
Most of the parents who were approached for a comment in the case did not wish to speak.