Jaipur, Jul 26 (PTI) Rajasthan School Education Minister Madan Dilawar on Saturday said he accepts moral responsibility for the school building collapse in Jhalawar district and vowed to expedite and closely monitor the repair work on other unsafe buildings.
The school in Jhalawar was not included in the list of dilapidated school buildings provided to the ministry for repair works, which led to oversight, he said.
A portion of the government school in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district collapsed on Friday, killing seven children and leaving 28 injured. Alleging negligence by the administration, angry locals had said they had informed the tehsildar and sub-divisional magistrate about the condition of the school building but no action was taken.
In the wake of the tragedy, the Union Education Ministry has asked states and UTs to take urgent steps to ensure students’ safety and well-being including mandatory safety audits of schools and child-related facilities.
During his visit to Bharatpur and Deeg districts, the state minister also made key announcements aimed at strengthening infrastructure in government schools.
“I have taken the moral responsibility. When some good work is done in the department, I take the responsibility; and when tragedy has occurred, it is also my responsibility,” Dilawar told reporters.
The minister said that while Rs 82 crore were allocated last year for school building repairs, the amount has been doubled to Rs 175 crore this year. He said that repair work on unsafe buildings will now be expedited and monitored closely.
Dilawar said, “We had asked for the list of dilapidated school buildings, but the school in which the accident took place was not in that list. The school administration submitted that repairs were done a year ago for Rs 1 lakh. Walls were dilapidated, which is the reason why this accident happened.” He reiterated the government’s commitment to eliminating lapses in the education department and implementing strict measures to prevent such incidents in the future. PTI AG RT RT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.