Give safe accommodation to students

Pushpa Girimaji

JUST as educational institutions have to pay utmost heed to safety, so also hotels run for students and working people. Some of the educational institutions, which do not have buildings for hostels, rent out accommodation facilities at several places close by, and make these available to students. The institutions have to ensure that such places, too, are safe for students. Safety includes clean and hygienic food that they supply, and secure and safe accommodation that they provide. Absence of safety on any of these counts will make the educational institutions liable for the consequences.

I recall a case decided by the Delhi state consumer disputes redressal commission some years ago, where it had awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the parents of a young girl who had died in rather tragic circumstances in a hostel. T. Manimala, a research scholar doing her Ph D in agricultural economics, was staying at the Mandakini hostel situated on the campus of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi. On February 7, 1994, she met a tragic and sudden death when she touched the geyser to switch it on.

In their complaint before the court, her parents said a year prior to the accident, the postgraduate students had complained about the poor electrical wiring and systems installed in the hostel. They had complained again in January, 1994, when another student had received an electric shock. But, obviously, no attempt was made to rectify the lacunae, resulting in the death of Manimala.

Holding the hostel authorities liable, the parents sought compensation for the death of their only daughter. The institute argued before the court that it was not to be blamed for the death as it was the CPWD which was responsible for the construction and maintenance of the hostel. The institute had brought to the notice of the CPWD the inherent defects in the electrical wiring and installations, and the CPWD had been attending to them.

The Delhi state consumer disputes redressal commission, however, did not agree with this contention. It pointed out that safety of all the wards in the residential hostel was inherent in the contract of service between the students and the hostel authorities. Since any shortcoming in the electrical wiring or gadgets put the life of the user in danger, it was the duty of the hostel authorities to ensure that they were absolutely safe. By failing to ensure this, the institute was guilty of negligence, the commission said.

It also pointed out that there was no denying the fact that it was the duty of the CPWD to maintain the premises, electrical fixtures and fittings, and the institute was paying them a large sum of money for the purpose. However, that cannot absolve the institute of contributory negligence as it was incumbent on the institute to see and inspect the services provided by the CPWD, and ensure that these were safe and without any shortcoming. It, therefore, directed the institute to pay the parents Rs 10 lakh as compensation, in addition to Rs 5,000 as litigation costs. The institute shall be entitled to recover 50 per cent of the compensation money (Rs 5 lakh) from the CPWD, which was responsible for the maintenance of the electrical fittings, the commission held (Shri Trimulaswamy vs Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute).

Earlier, the national consumer disputes redressal commission had held a boarding school guilty of negligence for delaying medical treatment to a sick child in the hostel. Prior to this, in the case of S.Somasundaram vs the correspondent, Sri Chakravarthy International Matriculation Academy, where a three-year-old girl, Brinda had fallen into the septic tank left open on the school premises, the apex court had held the school fully responsible for the untimely death of the child, and directed it to pay the parents Rs 2 lakh as compensation.

So courts will not condone such negligence. I must also warn parents that in view of the court judgements, the hostel authorities may try and get you to sign on a form saying that you will not hold the authorities liable for any mishap or injury to their wards. Well, that is an unfair term, and you need not sign it.

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