Faeces in govt. school water tank: HC asks State to file status report on probe

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday directed the State to file a status report on the progress in investigation into the finding of faeces in the drinking water tank at a government school at Manoor near Palani in Dindigul district earlier this month.

The direction was issued by a Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and R. Poornima, which was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by T. Balakrishnan of Madurai seeing a direction for constitution of an independent team to conduct the probe.

The petitioner said he had come across news reports about faeces being found in the drinking water tank at Manoor Panchayat Union Primary School, located under Keeranur police station limits. The incident had come to light when the school reopened on October 5 after the quarterly examination break.

An initial attempt was made to conceal the incident by immediately cleaning the tank, instead of reporting it to the competent authorities.

The incident was brought to the attention of the higher officials only after the parents staged a protest and confronted the school administration over the incident. Though the incident came to light on October 5, a case was registered only on October 8. The delay in setting the criminal law in motion despite the gravity of the incident indicated interference from influential persons, he said.

The incident raised serious concerns regarding the safety, health and the well-being of children studying in government schools. It was pertinent to note that nearly 150 students were studying in the school. The safety of such a large number of children could not be compromised by an act of negligence or administrative inaction, he said.

A similar incident was reported at the Government Higher Secondary School at Thangamapatti in Dindigul district in August, he recalled. The recurrence of such incidents gave rise to serious apprehensions that government school students, particularly those belonging to socially and economically vulnerable sections of society, were being subjected to deliberate and reprehensible acts intended to endanger their health and dignity, the petitioner added.

The State submitted that preliminary investigation revealed that two 11-year-old boys from the same locality were behind the act. There was no malicious intent and it was done in a playful manner.

The petitioner, however, sought a direction for the constitution of an independent team to conduct the probe and take action against those involved in the crime. The court posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.