
Members of the Jharkhand Abhivawak Mahasangh (JAM), an organisation of parents and guardians, on Tuesday held a token hunger strike demanding action against the principal of a private school in Dhanbad, who had allegedly ordered 80 class 10 girls to remove their shirts for writing messages on them last week.
The organisation claimed that the district administration has given a clean chit to the principal. The parents' body objected to the clean chit saying that his instruction forced the students to return home in their blazers without shirts beneath on January 10.
On Monday, the district authorities conducted an inquiry. However, the administration is tight-lipped about the alleged 'clean chit' given to the reputed private school’s woman principal. Eleven office-bearers of JAM staged the hunger strike between 10 am to 4 pm at Randhir Verma Chowk in the heart of the city, demanding action against the principal.
Speaking about the incident, JAM secretary Manoj Mishra said that Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Madhvi Mishra set up an inquiry team, which included the sub-divisional officer and the sub-divisional police officer concerned after a complaint was lodged by parents.
Mishra claimed, "After the humiliation of the children, the DC directed the SDO to probe into the incident. But he gave a clean chit to the principal and called for a compromise between the school management and the parents on the issue."
The JAM secretary further added that their only hope is on the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC), representatives of which were also part of the probe team. Whereas, the DLSA Secretary Rakesh Roshan said that they would submit the report to the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority. CWC Chairman Uttam Mukherjee, on the other hand, said that he sent the report to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the school management has asked the Principal to stay away from all administrative responsibilities of the school till the inquiry is completed.
(With inputs from agencies)