An education department official in Bihar had to bear the brunt of a group of girl students on Tuesday, September 12, for lack of seating arrangements in their school. The students created a ruckus and pelted the officer's car with stones as a mark of protest.
The incident took place with the block education officer (BEO) Ahilya Kumar during the inspection of the Mahnar Girls High School in Vaishali district. The students initially complained about poor seating arrangements in classrooms.
They alleged that while the attendance of students has increased due to strict instructions issued by the state education department's Additional Chief Secretary KK Pathak, there were no proper seating arrangements in classrooms. The school is learnt to have enrolled more students than its sitting capacity in the classrooms.
Sources said that 75% of attendance in all government schools has been made mandatory for the students else their names would be deleted from their respective schools.
Viral video
The girls were agitated after they received no assurances from the officer in question. Subsequently, they vandalised the officer's car parked on the premises of the school. The officer, however, remained a mute spectator to the scene as the girls were in no mood to relent.
"We have been facing plenty of problems in the school. Nobody is ready to listen to our complaint," some of the protesting girls could be heard in a video that went viral on social media.
"How can we study properly in the absence of adequate number of benches and tables in the classrooms? Who is to blame for the poor sitting arrangements in classrooms? You people come for inspection and do nothing for the welfare of students," alleged some of the students.
Road block
The students also blocked the Mahnar-Mohiuddin Nagar road and disrupted vehicular traffic near Madan Chowk and Patel Chowk. The road blockade led to a heavy traffic jam on the busy road, leaving people stranded in the scorching sun.
The police had to use mild force to restore traffic on the road.
Students alleged that a woman police officer thrashed a few of their classmates during the process of removing the road blockade put up by students of the school. The school is located a stone's throw from the Mahnar-Mohiuddin Nagar road.
"The woman police officer assaulted some of our classmates. She misbehaved with students and also threatened to book us in a criminal case for causing hurdles in the discharge of official duty," the agitating girls alleged.
When contacted for comments, Mahnar Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Neeraj Kumar said that the school had taken more admissions than its sitting capacity.
"The students who didn't find space to sit in the classroom protested and blocked the road," he told The New Indian Express over phone. The SDO said that for the time being, the school authorities have been asked to run the school in two shifts. In addition, a probe has been ordered into the entire incident, he added.
