Zira (Ferozepore), July 16
Thirtyfour students of class X of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, who had gone missing on Sunday night, were traced at Dera Radha Swami Beas today and brought back to the school. The incident has kicked off a row between students, parents and the school administration. The students alleged maltreatment at the hands of some teaching and non-teaching staff members.
Narrating the sequence of events which led them to take such a sweeping step, a student, Kulwinder Singh of Abohar, alleged that the students were facing an ordeal on account of poor electricity supply, inadequate water arrangement, sub-standard food besides the rude behaviour of some staff members.
Narinder Singh, another student, said on Sunday evening, the students were made to load 25 trolleys in the ground and when they got exhausted, the mathematics teacher called them for a class which infuriated them. Despite their requests that they were too tried to attend a class, the teacher did not let them go.
The students, upset over the incident and the apathetic attitude of the school management, finally decided to run away. At around 11 p.m. on Sunday, they crossed over the boundary wall after breaking windowpanes and fled. First, they went to Mallanwala village, 25 km from the school, on foot. Then they boarded a train to Jalandhar, from where they reached Beas by taking a lift in a tractor-trailer.
Parents, who had gathered in the school, were agitated over the fact that they were not informed in time. Mr Tirath Ram of Talwandi Bhai, whose grandson, Parshottam Kumar, was among the missing, complained that they were not informed about the incident, despite the fact that the school authorities had their contact numbers. He said they came to know about the incident the next day at 11:30 a.m. Mr Manjit Singh of Amritsar, whose nephew Manminder Singh was among the students, expressed anguish over the “improper” board and lodging facilities in the hostel.
The school is being run under the auspices of the Department of Education, Ministry of HRD and there is a separate board, the Navodaya Vidyalaya Sangathan, to run these schools.
The annual budget of the school is around Rs 60 lakh and there are around 350 students. No fee is charged from the students and all items of daily use, besides their basic requirements, are also provided by the school.
Some staff members, on condition of anonymity, alleged that four “wayward” students were spoiling the atmosphere of the school.
The staff members said senior students were collecting Rs 5 each from their juniors to hire a CD player for the hostel to watch movies and since the Principal stopped them from doing so they were up in arms.
Mrs Harjinder Pal Kaur, Principal of the school, said the staff members were cooperative with the students, but strictness was required to maintain discipline.
The SDM, Zira, Mr Jasbir Singh, listened to the students. He said the inquiry was in a preliminary stage.
