The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of two media reports highlighting serious human rights concerns involving schoolchildren in Madhya Pradesh and has sought detailed reports from the state authorities within two weeks.
NEW DELHI/BHOPAL — The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of two media reports highlighting serious human rights concerns involving schoolchildren in Madhya Pradesh and has sought detailed reports from the state authorities within two weeks.
In the first case, the Commission noted a report about students from Kakraua village in Vidisha district in the state governed by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, risking their lives daily by hopping across exposed pillars of a check dam to cross the Betwa River to reach school.
The dangerous shortcut reduces the journey from 13 km by road to just 1.5 km. Nine students, including five girls, reportedly take this route every day.
A video of the children carefully navigating the wide gaps between the pillars has gone viral on social media.
The NHRC observed that the absence of a safe mode of transport for these children constitutes a negation of their fundamental right to education with dignity.
It recalled that Article 21A of the Constitution guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 years, a right further reinforced by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
The Commission also referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Avinash Mehrotra Vs. Union of India (2009), which held that the right to education includes the right to a safe school and safe infrastructure.
According to the report, villagers said they cannot escort the children to the distant school as they work in the fields, leaving them with the choice of either discontinuing education or continuing the risky crossing.
One student reportedly failed her final examinations after missing school because she was too short to jump across the pillars.
Although the District Education Officer in the BJP-ruled state inspected the site and informed the District Collector, no timeline has been fixed for constructing a safe passage.
The Commission has issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary seeking a detailed report within two weeks.
In a separate incident, the NHRC took cognisance of a report that a Class 4 student belonging to the Dalit community was assaulted and subjected to casteist slurs by a teacher at a Government Primary School in Ukawal village, Shivpuri district, on July 28 this year.
The teacher allegedly became enraged after seeing the boy drinking water from his bottle. The child later informed his parents, who reported the matter to the police.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the report, if true, raise serious issues of human rights violations.
It has issued notices to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary and the Superintendent of Police, Shivpuri, seeking a detailed report within two weeks.
The report is expected to include the status of statutory relief provided to the victim.
Both cases underscore the Commission’s concern over the protection of children’s rights to education, safety and dignity in Madhya Pradesh.