Panchkula, Nov 14: Taking serious cognisance of the alleged assault on a six-year-old girl at Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School in Sector 20, Panchkula, the Haryana Human Rights Commission has called for a comprehensive review of child safety arrangements in schools across the state.
The Commission has asked the state government to consider conducting a time-bound safety audit of all schools in Haryana and preparing a concrete action plan to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
After receiving information about the incident, Commission Chairperson Justice Lalit Batra, accompanied by Assistant Registrar Dr Puneet Arora, visited the school on October 31 to examine the arrangements for child safety and supervision.
Following the inspection, Justice Batra told the media that the Commission would undertake a detailed examination of the circumstances surrounding the incident, including possible deficiencies in the school’s safety and monitoring arrangements, and recommend necessary improvements.
In its order dated November 13, the Commission observed that ensuring the safety of every child within school premises was a fundamental responsibility of the institution concerned and the administration.
It noted that the alleged assault raised serious questions about the supervision of children, availability of teachers, classroom arrangements, CCTV monitoring and emergency response mechanisms, and was not merely an issue of negligence at an individual school.
The Commission emphasised that teachers should not leave children unsupervised and that students from different classes should not be grouped together in a single classroom.
The incident took place on October 28, following which the girl sustained multiple serious injuries. She was referred from Civil Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, to PGIMER, Chandigarh, for treatment and was subsequently discharged.
